The neighbourhood Lesser black-backed gulls, presumably the same pair as last year, have bred again, amongst the chimney pots of a house over the back lane from me. I first noticed them checking out their previous nesting spot a couple of months ago – the photo below was taken on 22 March, and there was a lot of mating activity in early May (see Bonding, 4 May).

The female started sitting in mid May, and I spotted the first chick on 12 June.

Now there are three chicks, the same number as this pair started off with last year, though they only managed to fledge one. I’ll keep you updated on this year’s success (or failure) rate. Fingers crossed!