Seen fewer gulls this summer? There may be a reason.
Gary Drotts, DNR wildlife manager in Brainerd, said Wednesday about 2,200 birds - mostly ring-billed gulls - have been found dead on and around Gooseberry Island on Pelican Lake near Breezy Point Resort. Drotts said Gooseberry Island is the only known gull colony in the Brainerd lakes area.
Early last week, the DNR received numerous phone calls of dead birds in the far southeast corner of Gooseberry Island, a private island located about a half-mile east of Breezy Point Resort. The island is a popular party and tourist spot, Drotts said, with a sandy beach on the west side of the island, far from the rocky area where the birds were found.
Drotts figures the birds were dead for more than a month. The cause is still unknown; lab test results aren't expected back until Friday at the earliest.
Gooseberry Island on Pelican Lake near Breezy Point Resort is home to the only gull colony in the Brainerd lakes area. Recently, about 2,200 birds - mostly gulls - were found dead on the island. DNR
"To have this mass die-off is (unusual). To have some, 200 to 300, yes (that's not unusual)," Drotts said. "Just about everything that hatched died. There's a whole bunch of things they could be tested for, which makes sense. But we just don't know (the cause). There are still some birds that are dying, but there's still hundreds if not a thousand left - most of the adults.
"This is the only known gull colony in the Brainerd lakes area. All the gulls you see on other lakes and eating a French fry (at a fast-food restaurant in Brainerd) come from this colony. They migrate every day to feed and forage - 15 to 20 miles a day. One would have to figure out what happened."
Besides the gulls, cormorants and fewer than 20 great blue herons also were found dead. Historically, most of the die-offs are caused by botulism or West Nile virus, neither of which poses a threat to humans or livestock when occurring in birds, the DNR said.
BRIAN S. PETERSON may be reached at brian.peterson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5864.
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