The morning was overcast and, more than any of my previous visits, I felt an odd blend of anxiety and acceptance. Many of the chicks are close to leaving the nest, exposing them to a multitude of new challenges and dangers. I can do little but act as a witness.

One of my qualms about birding is how easily it slides into a game of checking species off a list. There is an uncomfortable disjunct between watching and listening to birds and transmuting that into a number or check mark. Don’t get me wrong – collecting data for eBird or iNaturalist is vital to empower research and protect birds and their habitats. But I worry we lose something when we focus so narrowly and forget we are in the presence of other beings who possess mysteries we will never fully grasp.

Henry Beston said it far more eloquently in his book The Outermost House:

“In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with the extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.”

Pyramid nest

On my previous visit to this nest, I saw three chicks. On this visit, there appeared to be only two remaining.

I was hopeful one was invisible behind a ledge, but when an adult arrived to feed them no third chick appeared. These birds are still too young to fly, so that probably means the third chick either fell from the nest or was possibly predated.

…or the third chick just wasn’t hungry?

Clipper nest #2

I spotted the three chicks from Clipper nest #2 near their usual area. The Clipper nest #1 chicks were not in their favourite spot by the cinder blocks, but I did see one chick sleeping at the far end of the rooftop.

Crossfit nest (?)

Crossfit nest was completely vacant when I arrived – I scanned all the hiding spots and found no trace of chicks or adults. To my surprise, an adult gull landed on a rooftop about 50 meters away from the original nest… and a young gull appeared and started begging for food.

This rooftop is directly in the line-of-sight of the Crossfit nest and I suspect if there had been a nest there I would have seen it previously. The theory I want to advance is that the one remaining chick from Crossfit nest flew from the old nest site and managed to make it to this rooftop.

Chimney nest

The remaining chick at Chimney nest.

I wish I had better news, but despite a thorough search of the rooftop, I was unable to spot the second chick that had fallen from the nest on my previous visit.

Penthouse nest

The Penthouse nest chick is looking fantastic.

Culinary nest

It’s hard not to feel some nervousness when watching older fledglings leap onto ledges and precariously strut along with little concern.

I was only able to find this fledgling at Culinary nest. Has the other left already? It’s possible, as these are some of the oldest chicks I’ve been monitoring. You can see this gull has grown in all its flight feathers, so it may well be able to fly.

Perhaps this is the last photo of a chick at this nest…

Ferrari nest

The Ferrari nest chicks sleeping soundly.

Design nest

Once again, I was only able to spot two chicks at this nest. I don’t know what has happened to the third, although I don’t think it would have been old enough to fledge yet. Perhaps it’s good at hiding from me?

Granville Street Bridge East, new nests!

I have been remiss in only travelling the west side of the Granville Street Bridge. Due to the heat and the need to do a significant amount of backtracking, I haven’t checked the east side at all this season.

A few days prior, however, I was crossing the bridge on the east side and spotted some new nests. I didn’t have a camera with me, so on this round I walked the extra steps to document these three new nests.

Fountain nest

Located on top of an apartment building on Fountain Way, Fountain nest is quite far from the on-ramp and difficult to photograph. You’ll notice that these three chicks look younger than the other gulls we’re keeping an eye on.

Rainbow nest

On top of a building in the Twin Rainbow Co-Op, these chicks took me a long time to re-locate after spotting them on the 8th. There are a lot of trees blocking the view, so my vantage points are limited. Eventually I was able to find them resting side by side.

Klondike nest

This nest is located along a busy road, on top of a small group of buildings. There is prominent signage for Klondike Contracting, and so this is Klondike nest.

When I passed by on the 8th, I saw three fledglings. However, on this visit I was only able to see two. But, the rooftop is higher than my vantage point from the on-ramp, allowing for many hiding spots for the third fledgling. We’ll see if I can spot all three on my next visit.

Cambie nest fledgling (?)

And finally, while walking along the seawall past the building where Cambie nest was located, I spotted this young gull preening.

I have no definitive evidence, but is it possible it’s one of the fledglings from Cambie nest?

Until next time.

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