While out surveying gull nests I often see Pelagic Cormorants flying up to their nests underneath the Granville and Burrard Street Bridges, many returning with a beak-full of nesting material.

I was curious where they were gathering it from -– with their legs far back on their body and adapted to swimming, they are awkward while on land. You won’t see them waddling around much since it’s a risky endeavour for them.

Last Sunday I spotted a handful of them gathering vegetation from the ‘green’ rooftop of a building on False Creek and spent quite a while watching them.

Pelagic Coromrant

Sunday’s nest monitoring had a few surprises – but I’ve got to lead with the first chicks of the season at Culinary nest!

Culinary Nest

The mission today was to visit the north end of the Oak Street Bridge to determine how many nesting gulls I could find there. I was expecting to find a lot – there are a lot of large gravel rooftops located right beside the north arm of the Fraser River.

Pedestrian On-ramp

Most of the area around the bridge is comprised of heartless industrial buildings and run-down apartments. The sidewalk leading onto the bridge betrays how little it is used by pedestrians.

The morning was unsettled and shifting with occasional light rain falling followed by the sun breaking through. Walking the empty sidewalks in the early morning, I try and understand why I’m so drawn to this rather niche interest of documenting these gull nests. But that’s something I’ll take on in another post…

Cambie Nest

The Cambie pair hanging out at the nest site. In previous years this is the nest where I’ve seen the earliest chicks. Let’s see if it holds true this year.