By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – As quick as a french fry fell from a boy’s hand to the boardwalk beneath an outdoor table in Ocean City last Thursday afternoon, a gull perched on a nearby roof swooped down and grabbed it, flying off faster than the boy at the table could reach down to recover his snack.
The gulls have been more problematic this summer compared to the end of last summer, when East Coast Falcons brought its birds of prey to the resort in August and scared away the gulls that had been harassing people on the boardwalk and beach, snagging food at times right out of their hands.
With the success of East Coast Falcons last year, Ocean City put out a contract for the extended summer season – late spring through early fall – of 2020. The city contracted with a different firm, Wildlife Control Specialists, LLC, which was the low bidder on the contract, offering to cover the whole season for $193,600, or $1,600 a day. (East Coast Falcons’ bid was $212,480.)
In mid-July, however, the city terminated the contract and brought back East Coast Falcons of Lodi because “the city made a substantial investment and was not satisfied with the effectiveness of the (gull abatement) program” under the low-bidder, according to Doug Bergen, the city’s public information officer.
On Aug. 13, Ocean City Council approved a contract with East Coast Falcons for $1,920 a day starting July 19 to finish the season, working 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily through Labor Day and weekends until Oct. 21. The contract also is paying $3,200 a month for housing for the bird control specialists.
Erik Swanson, the owner of East Coast Falcons, said the bird problem has been worse this summer. One reason is the beach replenishment that is filling Ocean City’s north end beaches with sand dredged up offshore and piped to the beach. With the sand and water pumped onto the beaches comes small sea life – food for gulls.
Another issue is people feeding the gulls despite posted warnings not to do just that.
“We’re having a little harder of a year,” Swanson said Monday. “Things weren’t taken care of in the beginning so we had to clean up.” He said his company has changed tactics and his birds “had to work a little harder.”
He acknowledged the dredging was attracting more gulls, but said the other issue is caused directly by people.
“A lot more people are feeding the gulls this year,” he said.
Swanson said he will have one or two bird-handlers working on a day depending on the “pressure.” His company uses Harris’s hawks and falcons.
“Sometimes we fly two birds at the same time. That was an issue this year. That is a difficult thing to do because obviously birds of prey don’t get along all the time,” he said.
“For the afternoon cleanup they will fly two Harris’s hawks together. The falcons fly during the highest pressure, which is usually in the afternoon. That changes all the time. It depends on what is happening. We’ve had days when it’s been very crowded and we’ve had 20 people feeding sea gulls on the boardwalk.”
Although people should know better than to feed the gulls, Swanson said some visitors just don’t know they shouldn’t do it.
“Somebody that comes here from another area and brings their 2-year-old child that wants to try feeding the sea gulls, it’s hard to blame them. Although we don’t like it. We just deal with it,” Swanson said.
When they get the gulls swarming the bird handlers will “throw the falcon up and there go the sea gulls,” he said.
On Thursday afternoon, a few hundred yards away from where the gull snatched the french fry, Jack Gilbert was walking down the boardwalk with Tank, a Harris’s hawk. Even though the birds of prey worked by handlers such as Gilbert don’t kill the gulls, they scare them away, whether they are flying low to disperse them or patrolling the skies high above. The gulls recognize the raptors and either fly away or lie low.
Later in the day, Gilbert was bringing Strawberry to work. Strawberry is a hybrid between a gyrfalcon and a Barbary falcon.