On Commodore Way, visited the friendly folks at Northwestern Industries, a quality glass fabrication plant. From the road one could see terns coming and going regularly with fish in their bills. Along with photographer Mark Wangerin, we went up to the top floor of NWI office block, where we were able to look down the approx hundred yard length of their warehouse roof. A lady from the next office explained that the roof was usually full of nesting Glaucous-winged Gulls. Now there was only one gull chick left visible. From the white wash one could see that there might have been up to 500 pairs!! The roof was broadly corrugated but not as steeply pitched as the roof at the Trident plant.

There were approx 160 Caspian Terns roosting in two groups on the roof. The story seems to be that the males are still ready but the females are not. We could see no eggs or sitting birds, rather males kept arriving with smelt athwart their bills to proposition the females. All fish were refused, so the males eat their fish and headed back out to sea. So really this site is a resting place for the tern group, only made available by the completion of the GWGU nesting season. It must be too late in the tern season for breeding, though there seem to be lots of fish available. Apparently Bald Eagles occasionally visit the roof during gull season. On some nearby boat docks, hundred of gulls were resting, about evenly divided between Glaucous-winged and Californias.
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David Hutchinson, Owner
Flora & Fauna: Nature Books
Discovery Gardens: Native Plants
3706 Corliss Ave North
Seattle,WA.98103
http://www.ffbooks.net/
206-623-4727