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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Pedestrians across from J.H. Sissons school were dive-bombed by a pair of gulls the afternoon of June 28, as their chicks navigated the neighbourhood on foot.

Two baby Bonaparte's gulls were found waddling along the sidewalk at the corner of 51A Avenue and 57 Street across from J.H. Sissons School. - Heather Lange/NNSL photo

The two baby Bonaparte's gulls were difficult to see, being small and blending into the grass with their blond and black-speckled fuzzy bodies, so passersby were baffled as to why the adult gulls were on the attack.

Brian Post, who lives in the home closest to where the chicks were found, watched from his window as the adult gulls got increasingly vicious and close to people's heads from his window, not knowing the baby chicks were underfoot.

At the time, the Bonaparte's gulls, which have black head plumage when breeding, were mistaken for Arctic terns.

"This lady ran to my door to get some phone numbers for some help. It was then I noticed the baby Arctic terns. These terns have been hanging around for the last couple of months but I didn't know they had a nest," said Post.

Post put on some gloves, and, using a Rubbermaid container, coaxed the two baby gulls inside. Post said he planned to try and move the chicks to Rat Lake, but if the parents didn't follow him, he planned to take them to the animal hospital.

"If I take them to the lake without their parents, they're not going to make it," said Post.

Michael Hurst, another resident on 51A Avenue, said he had also seen the Bonaparte's gulls around last week in the green space behind his house.

"They're water birds; what are they doing near hydro lines? They're not going to last here," said Hurst.

Bonaparte's gulls come to the western provinces, as well as the North, to breed in coniferous forest habitat that is near bogs or lakes. They nest in coniferous trees and sometimes on the ground.

Before Post could enact his plan, an employee with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources pulled up in a truck and Post put the Rubbermaid container with the two baby chicks into the back of the truck. The employee was hoping the adult gulls would follow him and the chicks to Rat Lake.

"Hopefully it's a happy ending for them," said Post.

Fred Mandeville, superintendent for the North Slave region at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said it is best to leave baby animals alone.

"When you see baby animals of any kind, don't move them," said Mandeville. "A lot of people don't understand that. Once we move them and take them away from their parents, the predators will get them. We tell the people they'll move off. We have to give them the time to get where they are going."

Mandeville speculated the baby chicks and parents were moving toward Rat Lake, the closest body of water in the area. Mandeville said the best thing to do in a similar situation is to call the ENR office and staff will respond and monitor the animals, making sure they are not harmed.

Mandeville said ENR employees brought the baby gulls to Rat Lake and are hoping the parents will follow. He said they have had some success with reuniting baby chicks with their parents in similar situations.

He added the public was never in any danger from the adult gulls.

"They'll swoop close but normally they don't hit. Myself personally, I've never been hit by a tern (sic)," said Mandeville.

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