When I went to stay with my friend Jill in East Sussex this week I didn’t expect to be woken early each morning by Herring gulls (scientific name Larus argentatus) screeching and squawking on hers and her neighbours’ rooftops as she lives several miles from the sea as the gull flies and nowhere near something that might attract them, like a rubbish tip. It seems the gulls have started moving inland in her area and she’s certainly noticed more of them about in the past year or so. According to the RSPB, Herring gull numbers have been declining in recent years so perhaps they are expanding their range in search of food.
I enjoyed hearing them as it made me feel like I was on holiday at the seaside, though they could be very cheeky. Although Jill doesn’t feed them, they do scavenge food put out for the smaller birds, and one rather insistent gull has taken to tapping at the French doors in her bedroom in the morning in the hope of getting some breakfast. And I took these photos of the same (or another, equally brazen bird) outside the back door, giving me a very imperious ‘feed me now’ look, then mewing like a young gull when the glare didn’t produce the desired results. I’m afraid it went away hungry.
Indeed. We probably know more about migrating Cuckoos than we do about Herring gulls.
Now that is interesting- wouldn’t it be fascinating to follow them for a day and see where they go and what they get up to?
It certainly would. Maybe we need a gull-cam strapped to a back or foot. 🙂
They’re probably young gulls that can’t find available nesting sites in sought-after seaside locations! Interesting how they behave so differently in different places-here my daughter has them nesting on her roof but they don’t come down into the garden at all. Perhaps because the sea shore is close by. I’m glad to hear they don’t get fed at your friend’s house- they get such a bad press for stealing food from people at the seaside and they wonder why!
Interesting! My friend’s daughter, who lives near her, has them nesting on her roof and they recently had to clear the empty mussel shells out of their gutters to let the rain water flow again. 🙂
oddly enough we commented recently about the increasing number of them that we have up here too, and as you say we have nothing particular to attract them though they tend to be near the river (even though its not a big one).
Let’s hope it’s good news for them. 🙂