The gull came so soon after I put bologna out for the mink (which we didn’t see today) 
First gull of 2020that I think the gull was up on the tall white pine stump watching. At 3:38 PM, it was there gobbling them all up. Gulls can eat far more bologna than a mink. Who was the gull?
It flew up on the cub feeder for a couple ID pictures and saw a black dot on the right iris at the 6 O’clock position, 
Ted sleepingso my best guess is that he is the male named 6 o’clock. He flew away when I went out with a piece of bologna, which fits his pattern. He isn’t that tame, but he knows the routine. He flew out and around and came back for it but I was too close, so he landed on the 40-foot white pine stump. I retreated and he flew out and around for a picture on his way to land, eat, and go.
Then it was to the Bear Center to check the exhibits. I wondered if the afternoon sun would be on Ted resting in his chalet, so I brought a camera. I walked up as quietly as I could and caught him sleeping with the sun on his straw-covered head. I wondered if he would recognize me if I didn’t speak. He heard the clicking, half looked, and tucked his head down to sleep. No effort to come to the fence. A pretty day with a very blue sky down to the horizon.
 |
 |
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center