Saturday, June 23, 2007

None can compare with the cliffs of.... Tallaght?


Tallaght Town Centre and two large gulls appear to have made a home recently on top of one of the pitched rooftops. I can see one of them from my office window, on the north face of the clock tower of County Hall, one sitting in the niche of a louvred ventilator. When its mate appears, the two greet each other with many "Shree! Shree! Shree!" calls that remind one of being at the seaside.

Someone speculates that perhaps the sitter is one of this year's young, still being fed by a dutiful parent.

I don't know enough about them to judge, but it looks to me like they're considering nesting on the rooftop. It is sheltered from the prevailing wind. It overlooks a courtyard that isn't accessible to the public. There are several fast-food restaurants in the area from which an enterprising gull might, conceivably, glean enough discarded food to raise a chick.

The nesting theory gained a little ground yesterday when the sitting gull maintained its position even during the worst of a number of thunderstorms that swept the area.

We are quite a way from the sea, though, and I wonder if nesting is a viable option. I shall bring my binoculars tomorrow. If nothing else, it should worry my colleagues in the opposite side of the building as I peer out the window and focus in one something unseen over their heads.

[Pic by User:Dschwen at Wikipedia Commons. Republished under terms of GNU Free Documentation Licence]

2 comments:

Tea said...

Yes, I bet you will have some wondering over the other side what you`re doing LOL
As for your dizzying ride in the other post... we`ve just aquired round abouts over here. Not sure what I think of them. Still a bit confusing. I`ve only been the driver through them twice so far. I don`t think everyones totally sure about what`s what yet, when going through them.
I remember my first experience with them was when I was in England. Not the best things if you`re a passenger who`s had a little too much to drink!

tea
xo

Willie_W said...

Like in England, our rules of the road mean we drive on the left-hand side and go around roundabouts in a clockwise position.

So if you're a left-hand side passenger over here, the centrifugal force is very efficient for relieving queasiness, provided you remember to roll down the window beforehand....!