it's the time of year again when baby birds become fledglings. there's a herring gulls nest on our neighbors roof and two of the brood have survived and quickly grown. today one of the pair descended from the roof and since that house is right up against our border it landed on our side. the mother seemed more occupied with the one remaining on the roof and merely watched over it from the roof as it wandered around our plot. it was both looking and begging for something to eat so without the parent divebombing me i was able to approach the fledgling with some chicken fat. it gobbled it up in no time and begged for more with it's typical dipping of the head and peeping.
it was even less sceptical toward me after i tossed it another tasty morsel.
while it is fun to feed them they do become all the more persistent in begging for food. when i went into the house it jumped up from the lawn into our entrance which is natural slate slabs. the spaces between the stone are filled with poppies, violets and other flowers. inevitably the gull stepped on some of the flowers so i chased it back down.
it tried to come back up but i blocked it so it stayed down standing dipping its head and peeping for a long time. eventually it got tired and sat down. i was surprised the mother or father never came down to it but they must have known i had fed it so maybe they were relieved.
in the summer we keep the front door open and later when i was inside it tried to come in so i had to chase it down again and close the door. i guess i will leave the feeding up to its parents from now on
