Jeanne:

Bald eagles definitely eat gulls. Here's a story I was told by a couple
of men who had a boat moored up the Snohomish River. A pair of gulls
nested on the boat to the pleasure of the owners; two young had
hatched. Unfortunately, the boat had to be moved down to the Everett
waterfront for some repairs. The men moved the boat down the river for
a couple of miles and to the waterfront near Pier 1 with the gulls
following close behind. They went very slowly to make sure the gulls
would follow. Once the boat was docked, the gulls took their place back
on the nest. The men were very pleased. One evening the owners were
sleeping on the boat and heard a major commotion outside. They went on
deck to look and there were two adult bald eagles raiding the gull nest.
Both chicks were taken by the eagles despite what was described as a
loud and impressive defense by the adult gulls. Unfortunately for the
gulls, the boat was only a short distance from the eagle's nest and I am
sure the young gulls because young eagle food. In telling me this
story, the men indicated how upset they were with the eagles and felt
very badly that they had brought these gulls into eagle territory.
These were a couple of tough looking men and I was touched by the
gravity with which they told this story.

Janet
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Janet Carroll
Everett WA
jrc at jrc.seanet.com
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"The frog never drinks up the pond in which it lives."
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