July 22, 2012

Great Gull Island - Living Among Thousands of Birds

The island is home to thousands of terns.  There are so many that you can't walk anywhere without being only a few inches or feet from a nest, usually guarded by a very territorial adult tern.  This video shows the short walk that I had to do several times a day from the building where my room was to headquarters.  I had to wear a hat at all times to prevent the possibility of being pecked at (and pooped on) by the terns.



One of the really neat things about walking this trail repeatedly over a week, was watching the chicks along it grow bigger.  A favorite was a chick I dubbed "Pie" (short for "Sweety Pie"), who quickly became my muse.








Every morning I was sent out to trap adult terns to gather data on them.  I stopped for a moment to capture the morning sun hitting the west end of the island from my "trapping territory" on the east end.


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