My nest survey started with a muggy bus ride, engulfed in the exhalations of my fellow passengers. I don’t take the bus much – I favour my feet – but every time I’m bewildered by how mesmerized we are by our phones. Like the stale air, almost everyone has their worlds enveloped by headphones and small screens, severing any ties to the world around them. The bus makes an unexpected quick stop, people hanging onto the poles to stop from falling. Unprepared, lost in digital hypnosis.
It’s easy enough, and perhaps justified, to dismiss my thinking as that of a curmudgeonly Luddite. But it’s hard to argue for how this technology has been used against us, consuming our attention with a Fata Morgana of hope and meaning, knowing that behind the curtain greedy men laugh and profit.
But what am I talking about? Let’s get on with the gulls…
Chimney Nest
Chimney Nest
Two birds at Chimney Nest. Last year this nest failed, hopefully this year is different.
Yesterday I went out for the first gull nest survey of the season. This is the earliest I’ve started; I usually don’t venture out until the second or third week of June. Many of the regulars are brooding already, with a few nests unaccounted for as of yet.
The air was still crisp as I started and the distant calls of White-crowned Sparrows competed with the roar of passing buses. It was the first time I’ve brought my camera out with me for months, and I quite enjoyed it. Being able to share these images, even in our utterly saturated visual world, brings me some modicum of meaning.
Let’s get started with the nests.
Cambie Nest
Cambie Nest
The pair at Cambie Nest are always some of the earliest nesters and among the first pairs to have chicks.
