Bad Finnish Birdwatcher

Sunday, July 15, 2007 - Gulls on roofs (and streets)

Suddenly it got silent. It took a few days (a week even?) for the fact to sink into consciousness. No more sounds of gulls outside my window in the middle of the night. I keep the windows open and all that comes in is the cool summernights breeze.

Looking out of my window you see black tin roofs - and a few red ones. For several years there was a pair of Herring gulls breeding on one of the red ones, now they've been elsewhere for two years. In March - April they do check the old nesting place, but choose some other roof instead, one that isn't visible to my window. So now I have a pair of Mew gulls. My nearest (and dearest) neighbors. This year the nest was on a roof I could see from the stairway. When the young were only about 24 hours old, their parents led them to a slightly lower roof under my window, a drop of a few meters. I guess it felt like a safer place. That's where they spent their short childhood.

So - most of June I listened to Mew gulls. What a variety of sounds they possess! They don't simply beg and warn. They ask and they answer, they are curious, they get bored, tired, angry and what else - I don't claim to understand even half of it.

But now they're gone, it's silent. Just six weeks ago the chicks were just downy little balls falling on their asses after two or three steps on the roof. [ How can you tell where's the bottom (=ass) of a downy little ball? It's at the opposite end than the bill, it's where the shit comes out. That's where it is. ] No more begging for food, no more parents ever present on chimneys keeping an eye on Herring gulls flying over. Time for a new phase in the juveniles' lives. They've jumped down from the roof. They're on the streets now. You see the occasionally in a park under a bush, in a gutter under a car - still relying on mom to bring food. Good luck to you! See you again next year!
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Me - Timo Janhonen

Fabulous birding adventures on the south coast of Finland.

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