Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Nesting Gull

 Today was a day off so we drove to Florence this morning, had breakfast, did laundry, shopped at Ace Hardware and Safeway. On our way back we took a detour to check out the Siuslaw River South Jetty area.  One of our stops was at the crabbing dock.  We were surprised to find a pair of Western Gulls standing over a nest.  I can't say that I've ever seen or given much thought to where gulls nest, but I certainly didn't expect to find one on a public dock right on the deck where people would stand to go crabbing.  Yet here it was. When I got home I checked to see what kind of nest they make and sure enough they make a nest out of grass.  The nest appeared to be empty even though it looked to have been set in, and this gull would not leave the site in spite of our presence.  As I write, I am reflecting on a Raven I saw drinking from a puddle in the parking lot.  We have learned in our volunteer job with Plovers that Ravens are one of the top predators to the plover eggs.  So now I'm theorising that perhaps the Raven stole and ate the eggs from the gull's nest.

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