Gull chicks on the ruins

We attend children’s summer camp as researchers, and we follow the group for a week. The camp is located on an island inhabited by lots of birds, during a time when many of these birds have chicks with them.

We are listening to a guide’s commentary at the old bear castle when the children suddenly notice some gull chicks toddling on top of the castle wall, interrupting the conversation about the conditions of the animals in the zoo. There’s life on the ruins of the old enclosure. The children admire the fluffy chicks and at the same time are worried about the safety of the gull chicks walking on top of a high wall. The counselors reassure the children: “they are all right, gull chicks might sometimes fall from quite a height”; “they can even walk along the iron bars”. The mother gull lands onto the wall to take care of the little ones. The children keep their eyes fixed on the gulls until the teachers ask them to move on.