Gulls on solar energy (Update on the roof nesters)

Today a visit to the top floor revealed that both Black-headed Gulls Chroicocephalus ridibundus and Common terns Sterna hirundo have large young. A small number of Black-headed gull chicks has fledged by now (I ran into one in the street below a couple of days ago). The solar panels seem to provide a useful shelter to the chicks. The Herring gull pair from the previous post (no solar panels present) lost all its chicks shortly after hatching.

Roof nesting gulls and terns in Amsterdam

Possibly the first known colony of Black-headed Gulls Chroicocephalus ridibundus on a roof in Amsterdam (Hoofddorppleinbuurt, 5 June 2018). The total number of nests remains unknown as they nest there between solar panels. A best guess... about 10 nests??  (update: turns out they're already nesting 'in good numbers' on roofs in the Westhaven area (annually?) and Amsterdam Zuidoost (2 pairs in 2015, thanks Ruud!).



About three pairs of Common terns Sterna hirundo nest among the Black-headed Gulls.






Herring Gulls Larus argentatus (photo above) and Lesser black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus also nest in the area, but their nests are more widespread and difficult to detect.