Remember the Lazy Laughing Gulls from a few posts ago? Well, they weren’t just feasting on a forgotten lunch in the middle of nowhere. It was unfortunately left right next to the tern colony. So the predatory gulls were very much in the airspace of the colony that morning. Although most of the chicks hadn’t hatched yet, the gulls were looking for a tasty tern morsel, and they would soar out over the colony to look for a chick. That’s where the colony-style nesting helps the terns. The fearless little terns would fly after the gulls, pecking at them in mid-air and chasing them away from the colony. This tactic was very effective, as they succeeded in running off each of the gulls that I saw. So here’s a little photo vignette of what it’s like to be chased by an annoyed bird who is half your size…