It is becoming increasingly more difficult to go places.  Along the walkway from the Keeper’s House are several gull parents growing bolder by the day.  The walkway is raised 1 to 3  feet depending on the spot and the base of rock provides some excellent hiding spots for the chicks. The chicks dive for cover when I come around and the parents charge on foot or in flight from above, the side or behind.  I used to have only one parent or family to deal with at a time but they let their chicks wander to new locations. Now at the intersection I can have two to three families (Intersection gulls, Sign gulls and Bunker gulls – same as last year) employing different strategies at the same time. I am spinning around trying to use one end of the broom to fend off a ground attack and the other end for the diving gulls while also trying to dodge their poo bombs, which some say are good luck?!? Maybe I may need a second broom and to start singing my song….

Chim, chimney, Chim, chimney, Chim, chim, cher-ee.
An Ecoguardian is as lucky as lucky can be.

Pathway from the Keeper’s House. The Student House, Energy Building, Lighthouse and desalination plant are to the left and the Tank Shed, Boat Shed and Jetty are to the right. The white arrows indicate the number of chicks hiding at each location.

Two young gull chicks.

A pudgy seal pup on the rocks by the Energy Building.

Facility work

• cleaned solar panels
• worked on door report…soon all locks and buildings around here will be keyed the same!
• cleaning

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 18
• Private: 3

Weather

Skies partly cloudy, hazy at times.  Winds variable in direction, 5 to 13 knots. Daytime temperature 14 to 22 degrees.