The mighty guns of the Jeremiah O'Brien were the perfect place for a pair of gulls to start their family. (John Gaston/National Liberty Ship Memorial)
Heard of The Little Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe?
Sure you have.
How about The Two Little Gulls Who Lived On A Cannon?
A pair of western gulls nesting on the big guns of World War II Liberty ship SS Jeremiah O’Brien at Pier 45 are about to welcome a couple of chicks into the world.
The nest of the gull couple — Charles and Claudia de Gull, how cute — currently shelters two eggs set to hatch any day. SFBay was told that as of Monday afternoon, the eggs remained uncracked.
Dennis Koller, executive director of the National Liberty Ship Memorial, told BCN these are the first birds to nest atop the former warship:
“They’re around us all the time, but we’ve never had a nest on our ship.”
Funny how a cannon that saw D-Day action on the shores of Normandy in 1944 could be considered a peaceful residence for a pair of Pacific Coast birds. But under protection from the Migratory Birds Species Act, the de Gulls are able to keep their nest atop the O’Brien.
Koller says that the gull couple are true residents of the ship, and that the crew has “(cordoned) off an area around it to allow the gull family some privacy.”
Bird lovers — and those with a soft spot for the feathered parents-to-be — can get updates on the baby gull hatching on the O’Brien’s blog or on Facebook.
“They’re real close,” Koller said of the eggs. “It could even be a in couple of days.”
Last modified July 12, 2012 5:46 pm
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