ARE BIRDERS GULLIBLE? (BIRDS OF NANTUCKET)
by Kenneth Turner Blackshaw
Well, they should be, at least if they find themselves near any large body of water. You can't be outside on Nantucket more than a moment or two during daylight hours without having a gull in your life. Beginning bird watchers learn to look at every one, just to be sure it's 'just' a gull.
When birders come to the island for the first time their eyes are forever aloft. If you see a soaring bird on the mainland it is most likely a hawk and something special to be observed. Here, almost all of them are gulls and almost all the gulls are Herring Gulls. In a way, all these gulls in the air are like noise you must sort through in order to find the really good stuff.
I choose to write about Herring Gulls this week because it is a special time for them. The lengthening daylight cycle is triggering changes in their body chemistry so they can be ready for nesting. As we look over a flock of Herring Gulls, say at Jetties Beach, we note startlingly bright white heads.
Read full story here
Well, they should be, at least if they find themselves near any large body of water. You can't be outside on Nantucket more than a moment or two during daylight hours without having a gull in your life. Beginning bird watchers learn to look at every one, just to be sure it's 'just' a gull.
When birders come to the island for the first time their eyes are forever aloft. If you see a soaring bird on the mainland it is most likely a hawk and something special to be observed. Here, almost all of them are gulls and almost all the gulls are Herring Gulls. In a way, all these gulls in the air are like noise you must sort through in order to find the really good stuff.
I choose to write about Herring Gulls this week because it is a special time for them. The lengthening daylight cycle is triggering changes in their body chemistry so they can be ready for nesting. As we look over a flock of Herring Gulls, say at Jetties Beach, we note startlingly bright white heads.
Read full story here
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