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Three Gulls

As I drift into consciousness each day one of the first sounds amongst the morning trills of robin or blackbird and the clack of jackdaws is that wonderful wild cry of Herring Gulls.

Although I have lived in St Just for twenty five years it remains a pleasant reminder that this is where I am. On the rugged Penwith peninsular, the sea never very far away on either side.

Soft feathers of white and grey a keen yellow eye and bill, black wing tips and pink legs. Always surprisingly large when seen up close. A resourceful and adaptable creature, it observes the ways of man and utilizes them with much intelligence.

Carrie Taylor 

www.carrietaylor.co.uk

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SEAGULLS IN PLYMOUTH: PART TWO –  Gulls vs Hawks.  Pictures and Post by Trudi in Plymouth

So, picture the scene. It’s nesting season. Our gulls are happy on our office roof nurturing eggs and feeding their cute little chicklets. My friend and I spend most of our lunch breaks watching them go about their business. Herring gulls usually have the same partner for life, but if he or she doesn’t come up to scratch for whatever reason, they will look for something better (no loyalty then!). When the pairs are together though they are very sweet to one another. Both Mum and Dad will share nest and feeding duties. One will go off looking for something to eat and the other will look after the eggs / chicks. To be honest it’s not a gorgeous sight watching the adults feed the babies as it’s a case of  sicking up whatever has been found (yuk).

When the chicks are on their feet they will normally press the ‘vending’ button, the little red splodge underneath a herring gulls beak which dispenses food when they need it. If there are three chicks it must be pretty exhausting trying to keep them fed and watered. Our favourite two (Jack & Vera) had a pair of chicks (Molly & Tyrone) who were very needy or just very greedy! Always after food no matter what time of day and if you can hear the little plaintive cries they make it really does twang the heart strings. The adult gulls never found food from our site, they either flew off to the little row of shops and take-aways nearby or they went into town to get last nights old chips. I am sure they managed to get natural food as well from the sea as adult gulls know exactly what their babies need and old chips or kebabs aren’t top of the nutritional list. As much as we wanted to we never fed the gulls or their babies with our lunch. Gulls are not stupid and if you begin throwing out sandwich crusts or biscuits they will soon learn that if they look cute enough it could be a regular source of food. One year someone in our office did feed the babies with crisps, biscuits and heaven knows what else from their lunch box and very soon the babes were peeking in at every window waiting for their snacks. If you didn’t come quick enough they would start banging on the window and making that sad little “I’m cute and I’m hungry” noise. At one point we had to shut the windows as one bold baby was trying to get in!!! Yes, they are cute, but we should not be encouraging them to scrounge for food as they will think this is normal and continue to rely on humans and that’s not right. The adults were not happy we were feeding their young either and used to stand at the edge of the roof and screech. In the end we had to tell the lady that was feeding them not to do it as it doesn’t do them any good in the long run. For the rest of the nesting season it was hard as they kept coming to the windows and looking in and they were so irresistible. Our senior boss had to close his blinds as two or three used to congregate outside his window all the time and when he was on conference calls they used to distract him by pecking the glass and crying. Bless them!

My friend and used to see the adult gulls doing their ‘dancing’ on the patches of grass in the middle of the crossroads. This is so hilarious, they pat away at the ground with their (it has to be said) rather large feet and turn around in circles on the spot. Their actual bodies don’t move just these manic feet tip tapping away like Michael Flatulence on stage doing Riverdance. I love watching them doing this, they look so funny. I am sure they don’t appreciate me laughing at them as what they are actually doing s pretty clever. They pat away at the ground trying to make it sound like rain drops falling which will in turn bring the worms to the surface. A worm is a tasty snack for a gull and a meal for a baby. When several gulls are in a row riverdancing it is a sight worth filming. Do a check on You Tube and you will find plenty of dancing gulls!

Anyway, back to the story. The gulls were happy enough bringing up their broods, some chicks had been born and some were still waiting to make an appearance. The weather was nice and all was well. Or so we thought. Someone came running up to us saying that there was a hawk on the premises. Not a wild one, but one that was specially bred to scare off gulls. Myself and my friend shot out to see what was going on and collared the building manager who was with a lot of other ‘suits’ from the office. She just said it was a dummy run to see what the gulls did and how effective the hawk would be. We argued our side of it and said that there were chicks in the nests and if anything happened to them as a result of the hawk flying then we would contact the wildlife police. The herring gull is a protected species and in nesting season you should not be putting the chicks at risk. The suits took no notice and just said that they had to do something about the problem. I agreed, yes, by all means fly your hawk before or after nesting season but not during. The gulls don’t bother me but there had been many complaints about the mess they were making and the noise. Fair enough, a building manager has to deal with complaints and there were an awful lot of gulls seeing as no-one had done anything for years. Gulls will nest in the same place year after year and word spreads so their friends come as well and their friends and friends of friends (you get the picture). There must have been at least 30 nesting pairs and many more bachelors/ladies- in- waiting on the roof, plus some Lesser Black Backed gulls and one Greater Black Back pair. In all there were…a lot!

There was nothing we could do about the hawk. The suits were going to fly it and that was that. I decided that we would take an early lunch and get away from the building as it was too upsetting to see frightened chicks and anxious adults. As we walked up the road I almost expected to hear the raucous chorus of annoyed gulls as they took flight when the hawk flew but I didn’t hear anything. We had tea in a nearby garden centre and I kept in touch with my manager to see when it was safe to come back. Both of us were really upset until my manager texted back and said it was safe to return as the whole affair had been a total waste of time.

We raced back to the office. The suits and hawk had gone and the gulls were still happily sitting on their nests or feeding their chicks in the sunshine. They didn’t seem upset at all. Apparently when the hawk flew he went over the roof and promptly turned around and flew  to a nearby tree to hide! The poor thing was traumatised. There were just too many gulls for this little guy to deal with and when gulls have chicks they are far more aggressive. A Whole flock of them would have seen this hawk off in a second. Like any animal or human, they will do anything to protect their young. This hawk caused a few of them to take to the air and squawk a bit but most of them didn’t even notice it. The last I heard the hawk was in the Priory recovering from its trauma.

Yet again our beloved feathered friends had won the battle. How can you not love their no-nonsense attitude? These birds are amazing.

The results so far: Gulls 2 – Hawk and scarecrow 0

Mr Nosey

a baby crèche!

Vera, wondering why I’m taking her photo for the millionth time!

Proud Mum

Jack having a quick snooze

Peek-A-Boo!

 

by Filed in: by Trudi in Plymouth

by jenny steer

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  • Erica

    Hello, I was wondering if you could tell me how often the parents were feeding the chicks? I am very interested as I have not been able to find this information online anywhere.
    Thank youReplyCancel

Gulls on a pedestal.  Article and pics by Jenny Steer.

There is a great deal of commotion around these last days. Builders have started the last phase of the refurbishment which is presently centred on the roof which overlooks Neptune Court. How annoying and tiresome it has been for the beautiful pair of Herring Gulls that are my very considerate neighbours! Such an inopportune time, just when nesting season is almost upon us. Already the Gull’s distinct song of love drifts in through various windows during the day.

This particular Herring Gull pair appear to hold quite a portfolio of property around here.  Their main Nest House is situated in Preston Street, slightly to the West of my lounge front window. Then they have a clutch of five other rooftop properties which lie adjacent and this time directly in view. Added to these they have had possession of a rather pleasant rooftop hangout (which they tend to frequent more in the afternoons) and which can be seen from the rear of my own property with the wonderful scene of the Cathedral.

However, a roof replacement has dashed all hopes of such luxuries as afternoon naps whilst basking lazily in the rays of a warm spring sun. The tiles are being stripped off at quite a pace and temporary plastic covers stake out man’s claim.  Soon, the perfectly situated sandy-like tiles will be replaced with a ‘gullproof’ roof. The new construction is considered to be quite inhospitable to gulls.

Gazing out the back window in sadness at the immanent departure of such a luxuriant place for these creatures –  I had a thought! How I would love to be able to touch and hold dear something that these wonderful birds loved so much themselves and in touching what they had touched I would somehow touch them! Silly, I know but somehow quite lovely.

I hurried down to enquire of the site manager what was to be done with the Gull’s lounging pedestal –  the vent ridge tile on the roof. He goodheartedly confirmed that I could have it and that he would leave it for me in the garden. It is a sturdy, thick and slightly curved piece of beautiful orange sandy stone with amazingly abstract Gull markings! A wonderful observation platform. Little wonder the Gulls were so upset at its removal.

In late afternoon after the builders had packed up and gone home the Gulls returned to inspect the damage. I noticed on the first evening that the male Gull was tugging and pointedly pecking at the plastic sheet that had covered the gap. The female however seemed quite indifferent. Conversely, the following evening the roles were reversed and the female jabbed and hammered at the plastic intruder with all her might while her mate stood gazing away in apparent disinterest.  The membrane held steady. This evening there was no attack on the unwanted cover. Were they now resigned to what was inevitably the loss of a valued roof seat? Because tonight saw them taking their stand on the pedestal that was the last remaining ridge tile at the far end of the roof. Plastic is defined in biology as: adaptability to change in the environment. 

They took to the air at around 6.15pm having made no further attempts to separate the plastic from its new environment. A light breeze caused the sheet to flutter signalling their inevitable defeat with an almost imperceptible mocking wave.

 

 

 

by Filed in: by Jenny Steer in Exeter

Kumlien’s Gull in Mousehole.  Picture and post by Paul Semmens

Here in west Cornwall we are experiencing Atlantic storm after storm but for the local gull watchers, these are exciting times. As the sea churns up the beaches and the seaweed large flocks of gulls are feeding in the surf and are attracting other more unusual visitors. So far we have seen several Glaucous Gulls from the high arctic. These are huge pale birds that really do catch your eye as they fly past. Even our Great Black-backs will give way to them in a face off. Normally we see Glaucous Gulls in Newlyn harbour as they follow the fishing fleet back to port but at the moment the fleet is staying in port. I don’t blame them as there’s thirty or forty swell out there off Land’s End. Some Iceland Gulls have also been seen recently but the highlight was a stunning adult Kumlien’s Gull that has arrived from the Canadian arctic. With continuing storms there may be more to see in the coming weeks.

pic by Paul Semmens

pic by Paul Semmens

Click here for Paul’s Wildlife Blog

by Filed in: Paul Semmens in West Cornwall

Went for a walk along the cliffs at Mousehole this morning and saw Fulmars flying and swooping. Amazing! I mistakenly thought that they were a type of gull initially, but after a quick call to Paul Semmen I was told they were Fulmars. Here is a low res pic of one. Bad internet reception so I’ve just come into a great little Deli to send this.

Fulmar in Mousehole

Fulmar in Mousehole

by Filed in: by Jenny

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