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Gull Nest Survey, Jul 15th

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t have any preamble, I just want to get this update out!

Continental Nest

The chick at Continental Nest with both parents present. It was begging for food, but didn’t get any while I was watching.

Mycoheterotrophs and other strangers

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I made it out this morning for my weekly gull nest survey. A few surprises, including a new nest location I’ve never seen before. I’ll try and have a post up in a day or two about it. Until then, here’s a collection of recent photos of some curious plants, slime moulds, fungi, and a wasp.

Monotropa uniflora

A recent tip from a friend got me out in search of Monotropa uniflora, also know as Ghost Pipe. These are some weirdo plants that have given up their chlorophyll and can no longer photosynthesize. Instead, they are mycoheterotrophic – they parasitize fungus to obtain the nutrients and energy they need to grow.

Gull Nest Survey, Jul 9th

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I’m late with this update because I’ve spent the last two days searching out some mycoheterotrophic plants around Metro Vancouver. More on those in another post.

I won’t rant too long about it, but a recent post on The Convivial Society entitled Feeding on Illusions has stuck with me since reading it. An excerpt that succinctly summarizes why I try and get away from screens and into the real world:

… a simulation, however compelling or sophisticated, will always be an illusion. And we will know this chiefly by attending to our own subsequent experience: “when you eat illusions you end up hungrier than before.”

I have to acknowledge that these photos are ultimately illusions too. Pixels of red, green, and blue transmitted through unfathomable systems to get from my camera to your screen. I can only trust they act as a gateway to get you looking more closely at the world.

Lots of activity at the nests – let’s get a start.

Cambie Nest

Upon arriving at Cambie Nest, I could only see one chick of the three on the chimney platform. Not entirely surprising – they tend to fall or jump down to the lower roof once they get older.

Gull Nest Survey, Jul 1st

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Early morning and the streets are still empty; it’s Canada Day and most people are off work. Trudging around the city with my binoculars and camera is not an enjoyable experience. Concrete, car exhaust, and the soulless architecture of Vancouver leave me depressed. Being able to witness and share the lives of these birds – the next generation of fry-stealing gulls – is what gets me out despite it all.

A majority of the nests now have chicks, so let’s get a start.

Cambie Nest chick

All three chicks were out at Cambie Nest. One of the chicks was already testing their wings, hopping and flapping.

Gull Nest Survey, Jun 25th

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

It’s the last week of June and the chicks are here!

Cambie Nest

Three chicks at Cambie Nest. They were quite active, wandering around the nest site.

Bluebird Banding

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Hamilton Hill Road, Merritt

Since 2018, the Vancouver Avian Research Centre has been involved in Bluebird Box Monitoring around the city of Merritt in south-central British Columbia.

Last weekend I finally had the opportunity to join a few compatriots to check nest boxes and band bluebird nestlings that were old enough.

Gull Nest Survey, Jun 18th

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

After a few hectic days I’m finally getting a chance to write an update about last Thursday’s nest survey. I’ll have another post soon about an amazing experience I had yesterday, but that will have to wait.

I’m nearing the end of book by Richard Holloway titled Stories We Tell Ourselves: Making Meaning in a Meaningless Universe. One of the ideas he explores is our drive for certainty and the dangers implicit in it. While his focus is on society and religion, I couldn’t help reflecting on his thought in relation to birds and the natural (aka real) world.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say I’m more familiar with Glaucous-winged Gulls than most people. This is my forth summer watching them nest, watching the chicks grow and encounter the world, and eventually vanish into the city sky. Yet I feel more uncertain about their behaviour and experience every year as more and more questions arise in my mind.

I’m also reminded of Helen Macdonald’s book Vesper Flights. I don’t have the book anymore, but to paraphrase from memory: animals and the natural world are not here to teach us, but we can learn from them.

To me, that is at the core of bird-watching or any type of curiosity about the natural world. As your attention grows and deepens, gateways and paths merge, diverge, and twist deep into mystery.

Klondike Nest

The parents on this nest tend to get quite defensive - the sidewalk on the bridge on-ramp is a little too close for their liking. Here’s a parent on the same light post last year giving me a talking-to. I couldn’t confirm if there is a nest there, but I suspect so.

Gull Nest Survey, Jun 9th

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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

Two birds at Chimney Nest. Last year this nest failed, hopefully this year is different.

Gull nest survey, May 31st

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

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

The pair at Cambie Nest are always some of the earliest nesters and among the first pairs to have chicks.

May 24 - wasp nests

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Remnants of a paper wasp nest

The remnants of a small paper wasp nest.

May 18 - Sokolov plays Rameau

Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

One of our great living pianists Grigory Sokolov performing Les Cyclopes by the French baroque composer Jean-Phillipe Rameau.

May 10, 2026 - Corallorhiza maculata

Sun, 10 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Corallorhiza maculata (Spotted Coralroot)

Corallorhiza maculata

It’s been quite a while since I updated this blog, so I guess we’ve got a lot to catch up on.

On a recent visit to Vancouver Island, I stumbled across a beautiful patch of Corallorhiza maculata, a weirdo orchid that has abandoned chlorophyll and instead specializes in parasitizing fungi to get the resources it needs to for growth and reproduction.

Jan 11, 2026 - footprints

Sun, 11 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Canada Gooose (?) footprints

There’s a small stretch of beach at Jericho park that I always visit when I’m there. It isn’t visited as often as the main beach, especially in winter. Early in the morning at low tide there’s almost always multiple bird footprints in the untrammeled sand. At first I thought these might belong to a Double-Crested Cormorant, but on closer inspection I’m going with a Canada Goose.

Lonely City

Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Heard this the other day and it stuck with me. I dabbled in street photography eons ago. It’s not so easy.

Kilauea Lava Fountains

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice. Will Durant

Oct 26 - hundreds of tiny white moths

Sun, 26 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

October sunrise

A week late and so it goes.

Oct 13 - coyote on the mudflats

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

As autumn deepens, my walk home is coinciding with sunset.

I had a little post about gulls published on Jerry Coyne’s blog today: Reader’s Wildlife Photos

Oct 5 - the juncos return

Sun, 05 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Slugs eating Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca

With fall migration underway, many species of birds are passing down the Pacific flyway to winter further south – some as far as Central or even South America.

It struck me earlier this week how poor my knowledge of both Central and South America is, so I spent a little time studying their geography. Political borders aside, what I really wanted to learn about were the ecoregions… the ecosystems that support these birds.

I also couldn’t help going back in time – deep time and evolutionary biology are two intertwined obsessions of mine – to learn more about the Great American Biotic Interchange.

Sep 28 - A vanguard of crows

Sun, 28 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Pacific Tree Frog

It’s been a strange week and I seem to have gotten lost in between the last days of summer and the first days of autumn. Finding this Pacific Tree Frog helped me briefly escape the idiocy of the world we’ve built for ourselves.

Sept 21 - last of the dandilions

Sun, 21 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Spotted Ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei)

This morning I lead a bird walk for VARC at Jericho Beach Park. I arrived a bit early to get a sense of what was around. While checking one stretch of beach, I saw a spiky dorsal fin protruding from the water near the shoreline.

Upon closer inspection, I was surprised to find this strange looking fish swimming weakly and being tumbled by the tide. I took some photos with my phone and quickly submitted them to iNaturalist, which helped me ID it as a Spotted Ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei).

Sept 14th - Summer flickering out

Sun, 14 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Sunrise at Jericho Beach

Friday’s sunrise from my favourite out of the way spot at Jericho Beach.

Sept 7th - Red sun

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Red Sun

Smoke from forest fires was thick over the city last week, something becoming increasingly common in our summers. Above, the sunrise from last Friday.

If you’ve not read it, I highly recommend John Vaillant’s Fire Weather, a haunting look into the future we’re heedlessly speeding toward. He’s a gifted writer, and I have no qualms recommending his previous books The Golden Spruce and The Tiger.

Sept 2nd - Under the pier

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Under the pier

With the nest monitoring now over, I realized I need something else to spur me to write a weekly post.

I’ll post a few photos and a few links to what I’ve read or watched in the previous week that I found particularly interesting.

Gull Nesting 2025, Kelowna visit

Sat, 30 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The real problem of humanity is the following: we have paleolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and god-like technology. And it is terrifically dangerous, and it is now approaching a point of crisis overall. – E. O. Wilson

As evidenced by the lack of updates, my gull nest monitoring has come to a close for the summer. This season was rough – I didn’t find any injured or dead gulls as in previous years, but I was worn down by hours surrounded by concrete, glass, ambulances, and fine particulates.

Gull Nest Survey, Aug 10th

Sun, 10 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

August morning sunlight filters through a hazy sky – is it smoke from distant forest fires, or only the smog of industry hanging low, keeping close.

My monitoring is almost at an end. Many of the nests are empty, the chicks having fledged. Many others are close to leaving, and only a handful of younger chicks remain at late nests.

My schedule is changing as fall shines on the horizon, and this may be my last weekend on my route.

Square Nest

One of the three younger chicks, with some feral Rock Pigeons in the background to give you a sense of scale.

Gull Nest Survey, Aug 3rd

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Why do I do this?

It’s a difficult question to answer.

I have one free day a week, yet I get up early and wander through the city documenting gull nests. I feel strange and awkward walking across the bridges with my binoculars and camera, but I keep doing it. Who else is watching these gulls? It’s a privilege to watch the lives of these birds unfold.

Maybe I pass on a modicum of the wonder I experience to the few of you who visit my website. Maybe one or two people will spend a few moments more watching and contemplating the lives of these ubiquitous but ignored birds.

Square Nest chicks

The three chicks at Square Nest were gathered together with no adult nearby that I could see – a strange situation for such young birds.

Gull Nest Survey, July 27th

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Summer grips us tightly, the dazzling flames of sunlight unimpeded by the barren sky. The gull chicks and I retreat to shadows whenever we can, meagre though they may be. Their darkness evaporates and wanders, the sun carving a gravity-worn path across the sky.

University Nest

Arriving at University Nest, I found a gull defending its nest site against a persistent crow. The gull chased the crow a short distance, but quickly returned to the nest, knowing the crow would soon try and sneak back. After a few minutes, the crow grew tired and settled down across the street – and I saw the head of at least one young chick peeking up above the ledge.

Gull Nest Survey, July 20th

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve had a busy week, and my post for last weekends’ monitoring been delayed. There’s a lot happening, so let’s begin.

Pyramid Nest

One of the chicks at Pyramid Nest was busy testing out its wings.

Gull Nest Survey, July 13th

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My rounds on Sunday morning revealed that a majority of the nests now have chicks.

Clipper Nest #2

Three older chicks spotted right after feeding time.

Gull Nest survey, July 6th

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Early July and many nests now have chicks. Walking my route through the early morning city, it’s difficult to comprehend these small lives coming into existence amidst the concrete void.

Pyramid Nest

Two chicks at Pyramid Nest, with a parent keeping watch nearby.

Gull nest survey, June 29th

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Despite being in my fourth year of nest surveying, the rapid events of late June never fail to take me by surprise. On this survey I spotted many chicks, as well as a new nest. Here we go…

Cambie Nest

By the time I arrived at Cambie Nest the day was heating up significantly. The two chicks we spotted last week – now around 8-10 days old – were hanging back in the shade, making it difficult to get good photographs.

Gull Nest survey, June 22nd

Sun, 22 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Cambie Nest Chicks

I arrived at the Cambie Nest just as the parents were switching out their duties – and I spotted some tiny chicks, no more than a few days old. Worried that the adult would immediately start brooding, I unpacked my camera as quickly as I could. There’s still one unhatched egg – the egg in the background is broken, almost certainly the remains of the egg one of these two chicks emerged from.

Fortunately, the newly arrived gull stayed off the nest and tried to feed the chicks…

Gull nest survey, June 15th

Sun, 15 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Cambie Nest

Walking home from work last week, I saw that the west side of the Cambie Street Bridge was no longer closed for repairs. This morning I was able to visit Cambie Nest. This nest is one of the closest and most visible nests, making for many great observations in the past years.

I found the nest in the same location as previous years, with a gull brooding in the morning sun.

QGIS Gull Nests

Sat, 14 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This year I’ve started using QGIS instead of google maps to keep track of gull nest data. QGIS is a free and incredibly powerful geographic information system. I’m a novice user but I’m using this opportunity to start learning. Click on the above image to be taken to an interactive map – you can click on each nest and see the information I’ve gathered so far.

Gull nesting season, 2025

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Footprints in sand

June 8th, Sunday morning, was my first official round of gull nest monitoring. As I mentioned in a previous post, the route I’ve taken for the last few years is inaccessible in a few places. But I went where I could.

I didn’t grasp it at the time, but these footprints I found on an inexplicably sand-covered sidewalk summarized my state that day: disorientation. After ten months, I feel bewildered and disconnected from the gulls. It will take a few more weeks to get myself closer to them, for their lives to intertwine with mine.

Roadtrip to Osoyoos

Sat, 07 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Near Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory

Approaching White Lake on my yearly pilgrimage to the BC interior, I was greeted by this sign. The Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory is located close to the lake – it was incredibly liberating to bird without a phone or camera, using only a notebook. Photographs never capture the reality of birds: the Bullock’s Orioles I saw glowed a smouldering amber illuminated from within by a flame of golden-apricot.

Writer's block and other obstacles

Sun, 18 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Pedestrian Detour

The construction drags on, seemingly endlessly, on both the Granville Street and Cambie Bridges. As June draws near, I’m increasingly disheartened knowing I may be unable to observe some of the most visible gull nests. If I’m lucky, the work will be done before mid-June. Or perhaps this is an obstacle that will force me to look elsewhere and find new nests.

Bonaparte's Gulls and ethical trespassing?

Sun, 20 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Bonaparte's Gull

As spring fades in, I’ve become obsessed with watching the Bonaparte’s Gulls (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) migrating through on their way north. One of the smallest gulls in North America, they still hold many secrets. They breed in the boreal forests and are the only gull that regularily nests in trees.

Little is known about their breeding biology as they nest in remote locations and in small colonies, and the only serious study was done in 1934 by A.D. Twomey: Breeding habits of Bonaparte’s Gull. Remarkably, it’s a mere seven pages long (with one page of photos)… a humbling reminder of how utterly ignorant we are of most of the beings we share this planet with.

The Robin sings Spring into being

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Trumpeter Swan

We’ve survived through winter only to be terrorized by spring. The leaky boat we’re all trapped on is maintained by rabid, greedy men who only know how to use a drill.

West Coast winter

Sun, 09 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Snow fell last weekend – temperatures have remained near zero since and much still remains. Ponds are frozen over, and I contemplate what daily life must be like for birds and animals that cannot retreat into warm, lit boxes like ourselves.

Ocean-side flooding

Thu, 26 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The tide was high, and the wind threw the rain and waves carelessly at the beach. Boats tossed on the rough water, my hands already numb from the cold. The on-going flooding of the ponds at Jericho park has grown and snaked to the beach.

I’ve never seen the water reach so far in the years I’ve been visiting. I couldn’t get a photo that captured the reality – I would have needed a drone, or perhaps I should I tried climbing a tree?

A flooded beach

Whimbrels and strong winds

Sat, 14 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Last weekend I felt compelled to return to the Tsawassen Ferry Jetty in search of the Whimbrel that eluded me on my previous visit. As I was making my way up the jetty, I spooked a bird – it was too fast to ID, but it didn’t look familiar and my first (wishful) thought was that it was a Whimbrel.

Nearing the end of the south side of the jetty, I gave up hope of finding the Whimbrel… but not long after that a large shorebird flew in and landed at the edge of the beach – and I don’t have to tell you what that bird was.

I made my way down the slippery embankment of boulders to the beach, slowly and carefully moving toward the Whimbrel, walking out into the water to get the best angle for the low morning sun.

Whimbrel

Ferry terminals and lost lagoons

Sun, 24 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Last weekend I made an early morning trip out to the Tsawassen Ferry Jetty in search of some Whimbrel that had been seen there a day or two earlier. If there were there, they eluded me. Even so, every time I visit the jetty, I realize I should bird there more often.

Visitor Map

Despite being difficult to decode, this old information sign near the parking lot has a strange beauty and stands as a ravaged sentinel of time. There is a newer, more legible sign beside it.

Why this sign was spared, I don’t know, but I’m glad it was. It may not excel at clarifying exactly where you are, but it seems to reveal something that I can’t articulate…

It connected with an aphorism I read recently: “All models are wrong, but some are useful”

Rainy day at Iona

Sun, 10 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The North Jetty at Iona Beach Regional Park is a favourite place of mine, especially in the fall or winter during cold and rainy weather. I rarely encounter anyone, and can imagine myself further away from civilization that I otherwise am – except for the roar of jets landing a YVR airport…

Low tide at Iona Beach

EarsOpen: Audrey Nuna

Sat, 19 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

One of my few redeeming qualities is that I’ve somehow retained a modicum of curiosity, and it’s something I’m thankful for every day. This manifests in a constant drive to discover new music.

Most days I firmly believe music is the most powerful art form we’ve developed as a species, but occasionally I wake up convinced cinema has earned this position… either way, I chide myself of not pushing the boundaries of my knowledge when it comes to either of these art forms.

Audrey Nuna is a Korean-American “hip-hop” musician who I’ve been fascinated by for a few years now. I put hip-hop in scare-quotes as I don’t think what she’s doing in nearly so easy to pigeonhole. Any of you who even vaguely know me will be surprised that her work connects with me – obviously I’m not her target. But there is something going on here that impresses me.

Mycelium, microscopes, and Megaceryle

Mon, 14 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Aminita muscaria

My morning walk to work is punctuated by many pauses lately – the cooler temperatures and increasing rainfall have brought on an eruption of mushrooms, most notably the incredibly photogenic Aminita muscaria.

Sunrises and Killdeer Choruses

Mon, 30 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Sunrise at ƛ̓éxətəm Regional Park

This autumn,
How old I am getting:
Ah, the clouds, the birds!
– Bashō

Modern Goose

Wed, 25 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Modern Goose

Modern Goose (via National Film Board of Canada) is a short film by Karsten Wall that takes you into the world of Canada Geese trying to make their living in the urban environment that has swallowed up the landscapes they once knew.

Earsopen: Mount Kimbie - The Sunset Violent

Sat, 21 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

It’s taken me nearly until the end of September to post about the unexpected album of the summer – at least my summer. Maybe it’ll become the album of your autumn?

The Sunset Violent

Flickering between summer and autumn

Sat, 14 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

These short spaces between seasons – like the edges of watercolour paint bleeding into one another – increasingly catch my attention and imagination. Summer, fall, winter, spring: we hold these words so close, templates we can stamp over periods of time. But like everything in the real world, there is no clear border between anything. Perhaps the idea of (and desire for) borders is one of the defining ideas of our primate brains?

As you’ve noticed, without my gulls to check-up on my posting here is becoming more sporadic. So… let’s catch up.

Ring-billed Gull

Western Sandpipers at Jericho

Mon, 02 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Now that my nest monitoring has come to a close, I’m spending my Sundays at Jericho Beach Park. Yesterday I encountered a group of three Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri) foraging on some rocks as the tide retreated. They didn’t pay me much mind and I was able to inch quite close to get some good photos of these fascinating and oh-so-tiny shorebirds.

Western Sandpipers

Western Sandpiper

A close-up portrait showing the often distinctive rich chestnut colouration in their mantle.

Gull nest survey, Aug 25th

Sun, 25 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Nearly all the nests are empty now, and this is likely the final post for the 2024 nesting season. It’s been just over two months since I spotted the first chicks of the year at Culinary Nest on June 23rd. I can’t help thinking back to something I read in Robert MacFarlane’s introduction to The Peregrine:

This is a book which sets the imagination aloft, and keeps it there for months and years afterwards.

Having witnessed these chicks grow and take wing, some part of me has flown away with them. Like continents moving at a geological time scale, every year brings the abyss between their world and mine a few millimeters closer. When I see them soaring in the winds above False Creek, I cannot help but stand and stare.

I’ve only got a few nests left to report on, so I spent more time than usual watching adult gulls.

Pyramid Nest

I was a surprised to see both fledglings resting close to their nest. Both started begging as a parent landed at the nest site.

Gull nest survey, Aug 18th

Mon, 19 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

After the chaos and crescendo of last weekend’s monitoring (and several encounters with downed fledglings during the week), this weekend was quiet and calm. Heavy rains fell overnight, and the morning was overcast, providing a fleeting glimpse of fall. The change was echoed in many of the nests – now empty, the chicks fledged and starting life on their own. Time unfolds strangely for me when I start monitoring the nests. It becomes malleable and in some paradoxical Möbius-strip manner ticks along both quickly and slowly, yet somehow never any differently than any other time.

As we approach the end of the season, they’re be fewer and fewer nests to write about. So let’s begin with what we have left…

Pyramid Nest

I was only able to spy one of the two fledglings from this nest – I caught this one mid-stretch. What I loved about this photo is that the bottom of the gulls’ foot is visible. How often do you get to see that?

Gull nest update, Aug 11th

Wed, 14 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Mid-to-late August brings new wonders and a heavy burden of anxiety that is barely perceptible to me at the beginning of the breeding season. A majority of the fledglings are strong enough to take flight, if only briefly and awkwardly. Seeing them wheeling around their nest sites, becoming surer of their new life and freed from the boundary of their natal rooftop is profound.

But with this also comes fledglings that fall off ledges before they’re strong enough to fly back up, fledglings stranded on the ground and sidewalks, often with injured wings – scared, weak, and with no experience of the dangers of humans, their dogs, and cars.

Repeater Nest

This was a new nest I found last weekend. I had seen this fledgling on the ledge of the building perhaps ten minutes before this. I was walking through a pathway on my way to check on the cormorants when I noticed this fledgling down in some grass…

Insects in the alleyway

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I admit I was a bit too optimistic about how much I was going to use my macro lens before the summer started, but we had a long weekend and I finally got myself into the alleyway to see what I could find. I can only ID most of these insects to the Genus level (mostly thanks to iNaturalist).

Genus Megachile

Genus *Megachile*

Gull nest update, Aug 4th

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

June and July are placid months where we witness the mystery of these chicks being born and looking so damn cute. But now that August has arrived, we’ve passed a threshold.

Most of the chicks are now well on their way to fledging – they’ve replaced their speckled down with sooty-grey juvenile feathers, and can’t resist but to try out their wings. You’ll find them walking along the precarious ledges of their nest, knowing full well that if they fall they don’t have the strength or skill to fly.

Grassy Nest

Grassy Nest was very active on my visit. One of the parents arrived, and all three of the chicks rushed in, begging for food. I can’t help but feel empathy for the adult. After about a minute, the adult didn’t provide any food and flew away, leaving the chicks rather frustrated.

Cormorant nests, July 28th

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

During my gull survey on Sunday I made another detour to visit the cormorants under the Granville Street Bridge.

This time I sat myself down and tried to take in the whole scene, paying attention to the comings and goings, to juveniles begging for food and awkwardly testing out their wings as they side-stepped along the steel girders. There were many active nests, and some that had served their purpose and were now apparently empty.

Here’s a few photos…

Juvenile Peleagic Cormorant

Gull nest update, July 28th

Mon, 29 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Last week Toumani Diabaté, a virtuoso kora player from Mali, passed away at only 58. As the early morning sun illuminated the city, I was listening to In the Heart of the Moon, an album he recorded with the late and equally gifted Ali Farka Touré.

I mention this not only because everyone should discover new music, but also because it’s a reminder of our mortality as living beings, of our subservience to time. This is a keynote motif of my gull surveys too, witnessing the utter mystery of these birds as they grow from fragile speckled chicks to sooty-grey fledglings, cautiously gliding in the wind.

… and then they disappear into the sky and the city. Perhaps they recognize me – but once they leave their nest, I can’t recognize them. When the season ends, I have a profound sense of loss, yet somehow strangely entangled with joy, as I witness another generation of gulls begin their tentative and risky voyage.

We’ve got some surprising updates this week, so let’s start.

Pyramid Nest

Pyramid Nest chick

This weekend I was lucky to catch – and quick enough to change my camera settings -– one of the chicks testing out its wings!

Pelagic Cormorant nests

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

While doing some searching about bridge-nesting cormorants, I happened across Geezer’s Blind, a guy who documented some of the nests under the Granville Street Bridge back in 2015-2017.

A few weeks back, I caught at least half-a-dozen Pelagic Cormorants gleaning vegetation from rooftops by the Granville Street Bridge. I knew they were nesting under there, but only after visiting the above blog did I realize that I could obviously see them from Granville Island.

So last Sunday I took a detour from my regular gull nest route and got my first glimpse of the nests. I spotted approximately ten nests, but there are certainly more – to my uninitiated eye I don’t quite know how to look at the scene.

Pelagic Cormorant on nest

Gull nest updates, July 21st

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Last Friday (July 20th) was the first night of the ‘Honda Celebration of Light’ fireworks. As if Honda hasn’t done enough for us… thanks guys!

Our primate brains may go wild for colourful explosions in the sky, but research unequivocally shows how dangerous and terrifying these events are for pets and urban wildlife, in addition to their detrimental environmental effects.

I suspect I was one of the few people in the city worried for the gulls nesting on the Burrard Street Bridge, located adjacent to English Bay, where display takes place.

Burrard Nest #4

Burrard Nest #4 - no chicks?

Most of the chicks closest to English Bay (Clipper Nests, Burrard Nests) were accounted for on my visit, though I couldn’t see any chicks at Burrard Nest #4 (above, the most directly exposed nest), or at Pyramid Nest. I suspect (and hope) that they were nestled up, sleeping in a spot I couldn’t see.

Early morning with the banding crew

Sat, 20 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I couldn’t resist taking this photo of the bird banding crew I volunteer with at the Vancouver Avian Research Centre. These are my people – this is taken at about 5:00am as we make our way to the banding station.

Banding Crew

Earsopen: Fcukers

Thu, 18 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This is what’s been stuck in my head lately. The references of 90s rave culture and the lo-fi video really work for me.

Nest update, July 14th

Sun, 14 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

While I was out on my route last weekend, it struck me that my nest monitoring is a pilgrimage – each nest a destination, a shrine to mystery, to the genius and tenacity of the other beings we are often blind to.

These are the fleeting images I try to capture, the small sparks I desperately harbour to get me through the following five days of mental anaesthetization.

There’s a lot of nests to get through, so here we go…

Pyramid Nest

What luck – the chicks and parents were at the nest when I arrived. I was able to get conclusive proof that both the parents are banded gulls. Not only will I be able to verify if they both nest in the same spot next year, but perhaps even spot them during the non-breeding season.

Gull Nest Update, July 7th

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This is the third year I’ve been harbouring an obsession with nesting gulls. For the previous two years, I was lucky enough to be managing without full-time work, and so was able to check up on the gulls at least twice a week.

Working full time, I’m at the mercy of weekends and holidays, so I only end up walking the entire route on Sundays. Why not Saturdays? Saturdays I volunteer at the Vancouver Avian Research Centre banding birds, and I’m barely exaggerating by saying it is the light that gets me through the week.

Yesterday it struck me that much of my recent frustration comes from being relegated to weekly visits of these birds. Monitoring these nests probably seems like a strange form of birding to many of you, and I guess you’re right. I’m not spotting any rarities or ending the day with a massive list on eBird… despite that, having the opportunity to watch these “seagulls” live their daily lives – lives as vivid, meaningful, and real as ours – there is something profound and numinous in it that I don’t find anywhere else.

Lots to get through, let’s begin…

Culinary Nest

At approximately three weeks old, the chicks at Culinary Nest are the oldest chicks we’re watching. Take a peek at the photo from last week and note how much they’ve changed.

June 30th Gull Nest Survey

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Sunday’s gull nest survey happened to fall on June 30^th, which is my birthday – and I was gifted with many new chicks that have hatched since last weekend’s visit. There’s a lot to get through, so I’ll try and keep the writing compact and to the point.

Cambie Nest

Until the eggs hatch, there is always a bird brooding on the nest. So, seeing the nest unoccupied and an adult resting nearby I knew that there had to be chicks. While the chick is quite visible in this photo, from my vantage point I could only see an empty nest and I was worried.

EarsOpen: Daði Freyr

Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

You know Daði Freyr? No? Then find out. This guy’s a charmer.

Rooftop Cormorants

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

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

June 23rd Gull nest survey

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

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

Culinary Nest chicks

Oak St. Bridge nests

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

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.

June 15th Gull nest visit

Sun, 16 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

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.

Nesting Season 2024

Sun, 09 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Today marked the first day of my gull nest monitoring for the 2024 season.

Well, not really – I’ve checked on some of the nests close to my workplace a few times in the last handful of weeks. But this morning I brought my camera and walked almost the entire route, checking in on a majority of the nesting locations I’ve discovered in the previous two years.

For those of you who followed along last year, I’m using the same names for all the nests. While I can’t be compeltely certain, these are probably the same pairs of gulls using the sites, as the research I’ve read suggests these gulls have strong site fidelity¹, also known as breeding philopatry.

Cambie Nest

EarsOpen: Jesse Welles

Sat, 08 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I can’t recommend Jesse Welles enough; his short, incisive songs cut deep and send off sparks.

Spring birding

Sun, 28 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Jericho Beach Park completely changed this weekend. Spring fell with the rain. Frog song transformed the park, flooding it with birds, covering the trees in leaves that seemed absent a week ago.

EarsOpen: Gordon Parsons

Sun, 11 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

A few months ago I somehow started listening to Australian country music from the 1950s and ’60s. One of the artists who stuck out for me was Gordon Parsons.

Here’s an undated recording of him (1970s is my guess?) on a television show performing a song entitled “No Indispensable Man” – based on a 1959 poem by the remarkably named Saxon White Kessinger. Advice I think many of us should consider.

Earsopen: James Brown on Letterman, 1982

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Back in 1982, James Brown appeared on Late Night with David Letterman – and proceeded to completely take over the show.

EarsOpen: Mogadisco

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Mogadisco - Dancing Mogadishu / Somalia 1972-1991

“The Future of Music Happened Decades Ago” – that’s the tagline for the record label Analog Africa. If you’re not familiar with them, you owe it to yourself to start listening.

EarsOpen re-opened

Sun, 21 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

For a few years (2017-2022) I compiled a monthly music podcast entitled EarsOpen.

Radio Garden

Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Despite our ideas of the internet being mostly infiltrated by companies with grotesque amounts of money, there are still countless territories that have not been colonized by them. Space that can surprise and exemplify how digital technologies can function to expand rather than contract our perception & understanding.

Listening to Kanel 103 in Skopje, North Macedonia on Radio Garden

Know your grebes

Sat, 16 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Horned Grebe

The Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) (ebird, wikipedia) is a common grebe in the family Podicipedidae.

Films from my year

Sat, 09 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

As the year comes to an end, I’ve been contemplating the films I saw this year that have stayed with me. I’m hardly a film critic, and certainly many of you will disagree with or even detest my choices. What I think is more important is encouraging friends and strangers to watch more film!

“We are put on this planet only once, and to limit ourselves to the familiar is a crime against our minds.” – Roger Ebert

France (2021), dir. Bruno Dumont

Cold November Birding

Sun, 26 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I made it out to Jericho Park on Saturday. I didn’t take many photos, but here’s some of the better ones…

Fox Sparrow

Bobby Fingers

Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Bobby Fingers

A Youtube channel I recommend to you all – Bobby Fingers.

Geese, blogs, and botany

Sat, 11 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Greater White-fronted Goose

A spell of Covid, bad weather, and a crowded calendar have kept me from getting out much lately – but on one of my last outings I meet this Greater White-front Goose (Anser albifrons) relaxing with a flock of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) as well as a few smaller Cackling Geese (Branta hutchinsii) at Jericho Park.

No doubt you’ve noticed posts have dropped off significantly since I was monitoring gull nests last summer. To that end, and risking awkward feelings of narcissism, I’m going to expand the topics I write about.

So, let’s talk about botany, a topic that has become increasingly important to me as I learn more about birds, biodiversity, and ecosystems.

Gulls of Autumn

Mon, 02 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

As the chill and damp of autumn return to Vancouver, a few species of gulls become more common around the city.

Many people I talk to are often surprised to learn there is more than on type of “seagull”. However, if you start paying any attention to gulls you’ll quickly notice you’re able to differentiate the common species where you live.

Short-billed Gull

One of the gulls you’ll see more often is the Short-billed Gull – until a few years ago known as a Mew Gull.

Black-tailed Gulls of Hachinohe

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Umineko - Black-tailed Gull

The Aomori Shrine Where “Umineko” Soar is a recent episode from an NHK series entitled Document 72 Hours.

Waterbird surveys and existential dread

Sat, 16 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Tower Beach - stay away fools

Last Sunday marked the beginning of the B.C. Coastal Waterbird Survey season. This is my third year volunteering with Birds Canada to help gather information on population trends and the health of birds using our coastal waters.

I was hoping to write an entry about the first visit to my survey site – my stretch of beach is quite rocky, and during winter months it becomes treacherous and even impassable, as the photograph below demonstrates.

But I adore it.

Tower Beach at high tide, Dec 2022

Birding Jericho Beach Park

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Yesterday I went to one of my favourite local patches to do some birding – which I haven’t done since I began monitoring gull nests back in mid-June. I honestly forgot what it was like to bird in a quasi-natural environment after spending over two months spying on gull chicks from desolate concrete sidewalks a meter or two away from passing cars (and their exhaust).

Jericho Beach Park is one of my favourite places in Vancouver for birding. There’s a large variety of habitats and it’s fairly quiet if you go early enough in the morning.

A lot of birders have been showing up for the past week to catch a Great Egret that’s been hanging out in the pond – a rare species for us here in Vancouver. This bird was not the reason I went. I’ve given up on ’twitching’ – the jargon birders use for chasing rare birds – as it always entails too many people with too many cameras mulling around. I’m far happier wandering about aimlessly and experiencing whatever I encounter.

Birding, for me, is about escaping humanity – even to the point of pretending Homo sapiens or our recent ancestors never made it through the population bottleneck(s) we encountered.

Anyway, enough of my anti-anthropic ideology… here are some of the birds I was lucky to encounter.

Least Sandpiper

Nest visits, Aug 23rd & 27th

Mon, 28 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Filtered through the wildfire smoke, the morning sunlight took on the colour of apricots. The air was heavy with humidity and the heat already pressed down on the city and those of us walking the barren concrete spaces where pedestrians are an afterthought.

Almost all the nests I’ve been watching since late June are empty. It’s strange seeing these rooftops with only scraps of nest material remaining. How far removed we are from the nomadic origins of our species. How difficult to imagine our homes as temporary spaces, to travel and survive without our countless possessions, to leave so little trace of our existence.

Chimney nest

I found the chicks from Chimney nest on the awning/overhang where they have taken up residence since leaving the chimney platform.

Aug 18th & Aug 20th nest visits

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I made it out to check nests on both Aug 18th and Aug 20th and have a considerable amount to catch up on in this post.

I’ll warn you in advance that it’s been a challenging time – many of the fledglings are now leaving the nests, some more prepared than others, some luckier than others.

Rainbow nest fledgling (?)

Aug 16th: life and death

Thu, 17 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I started my visit at the south end of the Burrard Street bridge, passing by the Clipper nests. As on my previous visit, I was able to count five fledglings scattered around the rooftop, most of them still sleeping and one or two lazily wandering around, occasionally testing out their wings.

Burrard nest #4

Crossing the bridge, I checked on the chicks in the Burrard nests, and all were accounted for. Passing the midway point, I noticed a young gull standing on top of the rooftop between bridge towers. Given that all the other chicks were accounted for, this is probably the chick from Burrard nest #4.

Burrard nest #4

Aug 13th: small miracles

Tue, 15 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Fledglings at the Clipper nests

The morning started with an exhilarating sight: fledglings at the Clipper nest stretching their wings, taking short flights across the rooftop – and then climbing in the air, grasping the wind, and widely circling the building. Their flight is still unsure, like a child who’s only just figured out how to ride a bicycle.

How astounding to witness these birds leave their infancy of gravel and cinder blocks. Taking wing, their entire perspective metamorphasizes, suddenly unbound from the plane of a rooftop.

Fledglings at the Clipper nests

Aug 10th: new nests, missing chicks

Fri, 11 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

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

Nest visits for Aug 6th

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I had a quiet Sunday morning visit to a good portion of the nests. The sky was overcast, sparing the gulls and myself from the full strength of the sun. It gave me the opportunity to see some of the chicks that are usually tucked away in shade and hidden from view.

Pyramid nest

The chicks at Pyramid nest are doing well. Here they are with a parent. Given their lack of excitement and begging, I suspect they were fed shorty before this photo.

Pyramid nest

Aug 3rd nest updates

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

New! Beach Ave nest

Now that we’re far into the breeding season, all the chicks are larger and more mobile. As a result they’re much more visible, making it significantly easier to spot nests that were otherwise invisible due to barriers that blocked my view.

On my way from the Burrard nests I heard the excited chipping of some chicks about to be fed. After a quick scan of nearby rooftops, I spotted the heads of three fledglings poking out above rows of anti-bird spikes.

The building is located on Beach Ave, so that’s what I’ll be calling this nest.

New! Beach Ave nest

Nest watching, July 30th

Sun, 30 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I arrived at the Burrard Street Bridge to a chaotic scene – five or six gulls were circling near the bridge, calling out loudly. I soon spotted the silhouette of a hawk cutting erratically through the air.

Though it easily out-manoeuvred the gulls, the hawk knew it had no chance of finding a meal and vanished before I was able to get a good look at it. I suspect it was a Cooper’s Hawk, but it was little more than a blur to my mammalian eyes. I have seen Peregrine Falcons hunting in that area before, but the shape didn’t look right for a falcon.

In any case, with the gulls alarmed and defensive, I spotted a new nest with at least one chick located on top of the bridge architecture.

This brings my the number of nests I’m monitoring to 18.

Burrard nest #4

July 26th nest visits

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

My usual routine is to visit the nests early in the morning. This lets me avoid other people as well as the worst of the sun and heat. But I’ve come to realize there is a disadvantage in that most of the gulls and chicks are still sleeping and hard to spot.

On Monday, July 26th, I was behind schedule and ended up getting to the nests around 11am… The weather was cooler and more overcast than usual, and we had a good rainstorm that lasted the previous two days. It’s disturbing that saying that sounds like bragging…

Clipper nest #2

I started off on the Burrard Street Bridge to check out the Clipper nests. I got a good view of an adult and the three chicks from the second nest – here they are celebrating the arrival of mom or dad.

I couldn’t see them clearly, but it looked like the chicks from Clipper nest #1 were napping on the other side of the cinder blocks where I usually see them.

Clipper nest #2

July 23rd nest check-up

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Cambie nest

I spotted an adult gull resting at the far end of the rooftop when I went to check-up on Cambie nest yesterday morning. It was the same location as on July 21st, which gave me some hope.

Cambie nest

July 21st: Disturbance

Fri, 21 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

My concern for the Cambie nest in my previous post was justified after all. As I approached my vantage point for this nest I saw several workers cleaning the rooftop, and instantly noticed that the nest platform was swept clean…

Cambie nest removed

July 18th nest check-up

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I had thought of subtitling this post “as the world burns…”, but it struck me as simultaneously too corny and too obvious. I am unceasingly astounded that as a species we continue to minimize or even deny anthropogenic climate change, even as we witness it engulf the entire planet.

A quote from Shakespeare’s King Lear has been echoing through my mind lately:

“When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.”

That aside, this morning I was surprised to spot a new nest from the Burrard St. Bridge. The nest was hidden by the ledges - but now the chicks are exploring and I got a good view of them.

Pyramid nest

July 11th nest survey

Wed, 12 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I was going to leave this for the finale, but instead I’ll to lead with a surprise discovery I made the other morning: I found a new nest!

Despite having walked past it half a dozen times and it being around 25 feet from the bridge-deck, I completely missed it until now.

It’s located on the rooftop of the Culinary nest building, so I’m going to name it…

Penthouse nest

July 6th Gull survey

Sun, 09 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

As we enter into the hottest global days our species has ever experienced, it’s difficult not to worry about the fate of breeding birds – and Earth’s ecosystems in general. While it has been hot in Vancouver, we haven’t seen the oppressive heat dome that caused so much havoc last year. Hopefully we will avoid the worst outcomes this year.

Last Friday I got out early to check in with my gulls. All the nests seem to be doing well, and I spotted a handful for new chicks too.

Design nest adult

Spying on Rooftops

Wed, 05 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Urban nesting gulls obviously have preferences when choosing a location to raise their family. Undoubtedly there are many factors at play – vicinity to food, exposure to the elements, location of other nearby gull nests – and certainly factors that are invisible to terrestrially-bound primates.

Nesting somewhere difficult for predators to access is vital, so if you want to find gull nests you’re going to need to get above the rooftops. The easiest way to do that is to go walking on bridges.

View from Granville Street Bridge off-ramp

Sunday morning gull nest recon

Mon, 03 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I got out Sunday morning and checked up on all thirteen gull nests visible from the bridges in Vancouver. I spotted ten new chicks – I suspect there were a few more I was not able to see.

Cambie nest

The two chicks at Cambie nest are thriving. Their parents are working hard; I saw them fed twice within ten minutes.

Cambie nest

Tuesday morning Gull visit

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Cambie nest feeding time

A lucky morning – not long after arriving at the Cambie nest, mom (or dad – it’s generally not possible to determine the sex of a gull visually) arrived to deliver some food for the chicks. I’ll spare you the photos of the process, as it doesn’t sit well with our mammilian sensibilities.

Cambie nest feeding time

Sunday Gull update

Sun, 25 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Flappers!

The two gull chicks at the Culinary nest were quite active this morning, exploring the balcony they were born on. Here’s on of them testing out their wings.

Flappers!

Gull updates

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

After my rounds checking nests on the Granville Street Bridge, I walked over to the Cambie Street Bridge¹ to check up on a nest that was there last year. Not only was the nest there again, but there were two chicks and one egg!

Cambie Nest

First Gull chicks of the year!

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I made it to the Granville Street Bridge this morning to check in on a number of Glaucous-Winged Gull nests I’m monitoring. Not only did I spot three new nests, but…

The first chicks of the season have hatched!

Gull nest with chicks, egg, and parent

Nesting Gulls

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

A Glaucous-winged Gull on its nest, panting to keep cool.

In Vancouver the start of summer marks the beginning of nesting season for our resident Glaucous-winged Gulls (Larus glaucescens). While many nest in colonies on rocky islands and beaches, some have taken to nesting on rooftops around the city.

I recently revisited four locations where I spotted nests last year while helping out with a census of gull nests in the city.

Wildlife photos - Dec 21st, 2022

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Here is another contribution of photography to the Why Evolution Is True website of birds photographed in and around Vancouver, BC. You can find the original post here.

Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

Place three paper clips in your hand. That is the average weight of an Anna’s Hummingbird (4 grams). This male was keeping watch over his territory at a local park. Check out those little feet! I recommend Jon Dunn’s ‘The Glitter in the Green’ if you’d like to be utterly amazed by these impossible birds.

Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

Wildlife photos - Dec 2nd, 2022

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Here is another contribution of photography to the Why Evolution Is True website of birds photographed in and around Vancouver, BC. You can find the original post here.

Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus)

These tiny owls (with the larger females generally no more than 8” in length) are also one of the most common owls in North America. Despite this, there are still many gaps in our knowledge about them as they are secretive, nocturnal, and have irregular movement patterns.

Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus)

Wildlife photos - Sep 2nd, 2022

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Here is another contribution of photography to the Why Evolution Is True website. You can find the original post here.

I recently read Dave Goulson’s fantastic (and disconcerting) Silent Earth: Averting The Insect Apocalypse and was struck by how I little I know about insects in general, and pollinators specifically. I decided to take matters into my hands and learn something in the way that works best for me — get out and photograph!

So, I dug up my neglected macro lens and headed out into the garden and alleyway behind my building to see what I could find. Surprisingly, even here in the heart of urban Vancouver, BC, I discovered a world of insects I’d never seen before. I wanted to share both the photos and a scattering of the information I learned with a wider audience.

Wildlife photos - July 29th, 2022

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been contributing wildlife photography to the Why Evolution Is True website, the blog of Dr. Jerry Coyne, for a while now. I though it would make sense to also mirror them on my own website.

This set of photos was my first contribution, featuring photographs of Glaucous-winged Gulls nesting here in Vancouver, BC.

You can find the original post here.