Sea Gulls? - Page 2

Chris · #11 05-11-2003, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Peter & Alex
It would be nice to have that incessant sea gull noise, the guano on your shoulder and the seaside feel on the beach in Cabarete - or would it?

Of course it would. Went to the beach this morning, and felt that there certainly was something missing! Somehow the hoarse seagull cries and the little shorebirds hopping around the waves seemed very very absent.

Maybe someone with more knowledge can explain this absence of seashore birds?

Hlywud · #12 05-11-2003, 05:52 PM

They are all up here in the Great Lakes and at Fireguys in Atlantic Canada, we are trying our best to send them back to the DR.
If they ain't squackin they are ****tin.

mkohn · #13 05-11-2003, 06:16 PM

We even find them in Milwaukee, Wisconsin's suburbs. In the parking lot at K-Mart, etc.
I wonder if it would be worth it to export some. Or is the environment still out of whack?
mk

Chris · #14 05-11-2003, 07:21 PM

We lived in Sarasota Florida for 12 years and were the evacuation point for the Seagull Sanctuary in case of a hurricane - Our pool and lanai area was deemed to be big enough and far enough away from threatened areas.

Oh My God! It tooks us about 2 months to get everything cleaned up after a serious hurricane threat. I love and hate these birds...!

I'm *NOT* volunteering for an importing effort

Peter & Alex · #15 05-20-2003, 08:24 PM

Still trying to find out why there are no seagulls or other seabirds here?
Had an answer from some birders (twitchers) in SD who blame the warm waters, less plankton, less fish and so on up the food chain???
We've been in places where the water is a lot warmer than here yet there were seabirds?
Perhaps they really do taste like chicken!

canadian bob · #16 05-20-2003, 08:54 PM

Dominicans are a diligent lot regarding easy food. Catching seagulls is difficult, but removing their eggs isn't! Perhaps DDT contributed too. Canadian Bob.

Drake · #17 06-06-2003, 10:20 PM

I like to know firstly why my original reply to this was deleted as it contained no foul language or insulting behavior?

I recently spoke to one of the top bird experts in the country. He agreed with me and stated that the reason there are no seagulls in the DR is because of habitat. Cool waters produce large shouls of easily accessable fish. The conditions are not the same here.

There are actually native seagulls found here but the majority are migratory. The DDT story is simply a rumour and not true. There have never been large amounts of seagulls here. Did the original chronicles of Columbus mention seagulls. Don't think so

suarezn · #18 06-07-2003, 02:16 AM

Don't remember seagulls, but when I was growing up in the campo I remember huge numbers of herons (garzas) that would gather whenever there was a tractor preparing land for planting, for instance. I still have a faint memory of a place I saw when I was little, where these herons congregated to sleep and it was just blanketed with them. I mean thousands of them. It's one of those visuals you never forget...

Jim Hinsch · #19 07-03-2003, 06:15 AM

Certain months of the year, you'll find thousands of them, all on La Matica, the little island in Boca Chica. They paint part if the island white, mostly on the west side with their doo doo.

Peter & Alex · #20 07-03-2003, 07:11 PM

Hi Jim,
Thanx for the info. Have you got a picture to prove it?
Funnily enough we thought we saw one lone gull winging its way along Cabarete beach the other day, but with our old eyes, who knows - could have been a dwarf kiteboarder?
Peter & Alex