Waiting for Spring

Like me, these gulls at Cattle Point are waiting for spring.

Civil Disobedience!

Or perhaps it's just that he can't read.

Mount Douglas Park

Mount Douglas Park includes a nice chunk of beach as well as the mountain. When I see the ocean like this I always think of Homer's "wine-dark sea".

Shorebirds

Earlier this week I was down at Clover Point and was able to photograph this nice group of shorebirds, two Black Turnstones and three Black Oystercatchers as well as the ubiquitous seagull.

Up Close and Personal

Yes, I know it's only a seagull but he was posed so nicely I couldn't resist.

Where Have All the Seagulls Gone?

About six weeks ago I noticed some unusual behaviour amongst seagulls while I was taking my morning walk along the West Bay Walkway. Several mornings in a row I saw four seagulls floating in a small circle, all facing one another and uttering a regular (and rather monotonous) squawking. They would sit there in the water doing this for ten or fifteen minutes at a time then wander off. Some weeks later I noticed there was a distinct drop in the local gull population. They weren't totally absent but there were fewer. Where I would see forty gulls before I now saw ten or fifteen. Around the same time I was chatting with my caricaturist friend Dean Lewis on the Inner Harbour Causeway and listening to his enthusiastic report of seagulls nesting near the webcam on Race Rocks. Suddenly it all came together: the gulls' initial weird behaviour was probably some form of mating ritual. And the later drop in the shoreline population was because many of the gulls had moved to small offshore islands to nest and rear their young in relative safety. One gull chick (photographed through the Race Rocks webcam, courtesy of Dean Lewis) is pictured to the left.

Making Lunch

Here's a sight I see fairly often when I am on the seashore near some rocks. Local seagulls have learned that if they drop tightly closed clam shells onto a rocky outcrop from a height, the shells will break open and the inhabitant can be eaten. Our gulls do this very purposefully and I consider it a kind of tool-using that indicates considerable intelligence.It seems to me something that, though they probably learn it from observing other gulls, perhaps their parents, they must still apply some of their own intelligence to it to get it right. If they drop the clam from too high then lower-flying nearby gulls may swoop down and steal the morsel. If they drop it from too low then it will not crack the shell. Considerable trial and error practice must take place before the technique is perfected and the clam is dropped from high enough to crack the shell but from low enough so that the gull can drop down and eat it before his neighbours do. Seagulls are smart birds.

Follow the birds....

In the 1960s a well-known advertising slogan was "Follow the birds to Victoria." The birds were almost certainly the seagulls that unfailingly follow the ferries in hope of scraps. And, while Victoria does have many other species of birds, there is no doubt that the most visible are seagulls.

Ripples 2

The reflections on the water are so lovely they make even this fairly mundane seagull look special.

Unwelcome Visitor

I could hear the gulls' angry cries long before I reached the shore and saw the eagle they were harassing. Eventually he tired of the in-air chase and landed on this small island. Gulls perched on telephone poles and trees along the walkway continued to broadcast their danger signals as long as he rested there. The Canada Geese didn't appear to be worried by his presence but as soon as he took off the gulls were after him again.

Feeding Frenzy

So I was standing on top of this large rock trying to get a nice skyline picture of Victoria that was a little different from the last hundred I've posted and I noticed a lot of querulous cries from seagulls. A few seconds later the woman in the photo to the right appeared with her bag of goodies. Clearly the seagulls had seen her coming and knew what was in the bag. I was standing on ground zero so I removed myself to watch the show. I like to see people feed wild animals, particularly when they are focused on not particularly loveable animals like seagulls. I know there is some doubt as to the political/ecological correctness of feeding wild animals (encouraging dependency, etc.) but it seems to me to be a nice acknowledgement that we share our world with other species.

Iconic Bird

I've been posting lots of bird pics lately and this morning it occurred to me that I've left out Victoria's most iconic bird, the seagull. These year-round ubiquitous residents not only appear perched in the background of almost any photo of Victoria but their haunting, somewhat querulous cries are the dominant note in our coastal soundscape.

Smart Birds 2

Here's another example of intelligent birds. The seagulls pictured above and below were photographed out at Esquimalt Lagoon. Both photos were taken within about a half hour I spent observing these gulls (and others) flying past with these clams in their beaks. They catch the clams in the shallows of the lagoon and then fly over the road to a nearby bunch of large boulders. As soon as the gulls are above these rocks they drop the clams from high enough so that the force of their fall onto the rocks cracks the shells. The gull then swoops down and enjoys his shellfish.

Seagull Portrait

Here's one of Victoria's most common birds whose querulous and mournful call often provides the ambient music to our days. As I have mentioned before, it is difficult to take a photo in Victoria without including a gull somewhere in the background. Here is one who posed prettily out at Esquimalt Lagoon. They are so ubiquitous here it is easy to forget what graceful and resourceful birds they are. Here is a little more information about gulls - no need to read further if you know what kleptoparasitism is....

Gulls—the larger species in particular—are resourceful, inquisitive and intelligent birds, demonstrating complex methods of communication and a highly developed social structure. For example, many gull colonies display mobbing behaviour, attacking and harassing would-be predators and other intruders. Certain species (e.g. the Herring Gull) have exhibited tool use behaviour, using pieces of bread as bait with which to catch goldfish, for example. Many species of gull have learned to coexist successfully with humans and have thrived in human habitats. Others rely on kleptoparasitism to get their food. Gulls have been observed preying on live whales, landing on the whale as it surfaces to peck out pieces of flesh. A seagull in Aberdeen has been seen repeatedly shoplifting bagged crisps from a shop, apparently displaying a preference for cheese flavour Doritos.

From Wikipedia

Thanks to commenter and fellow blogger Mike Laplante, here is a video of the infamous Dorito thief.

I have a soft spot for Doritos myself.

Cattle Point

I was going to post another sunrise photo today but I realized that they are a little like cupcakes - one is fine but a steady diet is a bit overwhelming. After I had glutted myself on sunrise yesterday at Willows Beach I went down to the end of the beach marked by Cattle Point. I was amazed by the variety and busy-ness of the wild life off that point. All these photos were taken within a few minutes.

Above is a female American Wigeon. There were lots of Mallards as well and a few other kinds of duck but the latter were so shy I was unable to get close enough to identify them. On the left, poking about among the rocks was a Black Oystercatcher. These birds always amuse me because they seem to be trying to be inconspicuous but those eyes and that beak are a dead giveaway. To the right, seemingly traveling in tandem, are one of our local seagulls and a Harbour Seal.

There seem to be more than the usual number of seals around lately. I see one or more pretty well every time I am down near the shoreline. Last night while on the West Bay Walkway I spent about a half an hour watching one dine off a dense school of thousands of small silvery fish that were swimming directly below the walkway.

Clover Point

Clover Point got its name when Hudson Bay Factor James Douglas landed there in 1842 and found himself knee-deep in red clover. This point is popular with kite fliers because there is almost always a strong wind. That was certainly the case when I took this photo. But, despite the warm days we've been having, Monday's wind was biting cold as well as strong and the only fliers were the gulls.

The one that got away....

Just when I thought I had wildlife photography figured out ("...get the camera perfectly set up and then just wait"), I learned something new - you have to pay attention because when something happens it often happens very quickly. Yet, though I snapped the shutter about 1/1000th of a second too late for what I wanted, I still like the above image for its nice parallels and its simplicity. And I am still enjoying discovering how to use my 300mm prime telephoto, as in the photo to the right. It was a bright, warm and sunny day and I also encountered the two harbour seals below cruising the Gorge. I suspect they were after herring since they are running now.

I also went out looking for an elephant seal yesterday, since one was reported to be moulting on the beach near where I live. It was, alas, gone. However, you can see a photo of it on my neighbour's blog "Cafe Jabbaccino."

Another Seagull

After a gray, cold, rainy week, blue skies returned this afternoon and I went out to test the new (used) 300mm telephoto lens. It's another old prime lens and what better subject than one of Victoria's ubiquitous seagulls. This one was perched on top of a power pole about a hundred meters from where I was standing. I'm pretty pleased with the lens. And I learned that if you get ready to click the shutter and then wait, wildlife will almost certainly do something more interesting than just sit there. All you have to do is be ready.

Master of All He Surveys

Maybe this should be "Mistress of All She Surveys" - I have been unable to find any information on gender distinctions between male and female seagulls, which would probably cause a snicker amongst the seagull population. In any case this bird posed with sublime indifference while overlooking Victoria's Inner Harbour.

Herring Gulls

A couple of posts ago there was some discussion of seagulls and methods used to discourage them from roosting (defecating) on window ledges/street lamps and other places where their droppings may cause a problem. Apparently droppings on the exterior of the space shuttle survived a journey into space, although they were destroyed during the burn-out return.

However much people may dislike their presence, in Canada they are a federally protected species. It seems that about a hundred years ago they were actually a threatened species on the east coast due to people hunting them and eating the young and eggs. However, they are currently thriving and are not considered endangered. The trio above are probably Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus), two adults and a juvenile. I write probably because the taxonomy of gulls is controversial. They are called four year gulls because it takes them 4 years to mature. Gulls have not had very good press but I like their sturdy independence and their mournful querulous cries are as much a part of our shorelines as is the sound of waves.