The Lady in Waiting

I paid a visit to the ship yesterday to see how Claudia and Charlie De Gull are doing with the nest and the eggs.  No progress to report, but she is getting very cranky.  I noted that some kind crew member had left some open cans of sardines right next to the nest, but when I tried to help myself she almost pecked my head off.  So much for the blessed principle of sharing with your elders.

Claudia patiently sits on the nest

After I left the nest I took a tour of the waterfront and found some interesting things as I flew up toward the Ferry Building.   The first was a big mess on one of the piers.  It seems that there must have been quite a large fire and the front of the pier is all black.  Workmen were climbing all over the building tearing out the burnt stuff.

Remnants of the fire at Pier 29

It wasn’t lunch time so I couldn’t mooch any food from the workmen, but I was hungry from having seen, and almost eaten, the sardines near the nest.

I kept flying up towards the big bridge looking for scraps near one of the waterside restaurants and I came upon the funniest sign that had just been installed.

America’s Cup Practice on the Bay

While we were cruising around the Bay for Memorial Day we came across a strange looking sailboat.  It has a very tall mast and what looks like an airplane wing for a sail.  Instead of one hull it has two and they are connected by a net that the sailors run around on.  Very strange!

The Oracle 45 foot catamaran doing test runs on San Francisco Bay during the Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary celebration.

Rumor has it that there are going to be lots and lots of people for the sailboat races and that is good news for the avian squadron.  More people means more tourists and that means more food for the troops!

The ship is right near the area where the races will start and we hope that the bird population will benefit from the crowds.  

The Vigil Continues

As you may recall, Claudia & Charlie Gull have built a nest on board the ship right in the middle of one of the big cannons on the deck.  What a couple of show offs! At this point we do not know the number of eggs in the nest, but we do know that the two of them are getting very ‘testy’ and ‘cranky’ about people and other birds hanging around.

Claudia is nesting and protective of the eggs.

I can tell you from my MANY years of experience that the mother gull gets very defensive and that behavior increases dramatically as the hatch gets closer.  I have seen cases where the mother attacks other birds when they get too near the nest.

A Blessed Event !!

What a surprise!  During the cruise on the Bay with a big crowd on board I discovered that two of my extended family have started an addition to their own family right on the ship.

Claudia Gull sitting on the eggs in her nest on the ship

The facts are as follows:  Claudia and Charlie Gull have built a nest on the ship right in the middle of the cannon near the stern of the ship.  Talk about playing to the crowd.  Normally members of the Gull Family nest on the ground in more isolated areas and in the company of many other members of the Gull Family, but not Charlie & Claudia.  No, they have to build a nest