looduskalender.ee

Mew gull pair on home rock

 

Mew gull; Common gull

Kalakajakas

Larus canus

 

Mew gull colonies are concentrated largely to the sea islands and the western coast.In the Emajõgi river watershed and at Lake Peipsi there are separate communities. But single nesters are more interesting and easier to observe. A mew gull pair stays together throughout their lives, and they are quite long-lived birds. They arrive at their territory in early spring and guard it during the breeding period. Nest building material is sparse – whatever is to be had on the beach: straws, algae. Egg-laying started in the beginning of May; the clutch usually contains three eggs and brooding lasts a little over three weeks, so the chicks are hatched or about to hatch now. During the first few days the parents cover the chicks against bad weather or the heat and sun that we have at the moment. The young of the single nesters on the rock can be observed around the nest for a month until they fledge. The parents protect them with self-sacrificing devotion but against stronger and bigger aggressors sometimes they just cannot succeed....