A pair of Lesser black-backed gulls is once again attempting to raise a family amongst the chimney pots of a house visible from the back of my flat.

Sadly, this process involves many hazards, one of which being the fact that, once they become more active, the chicks can easily fall from their precarious home. And that’s exactly what has happened to one of the local chicks. As I watched, and in spite of the slippery nature of the slate roofing tiles, it managed to climb up to the roof ridge but, of course, there was no way it could return to the nest. The parent gulls were very concerned and made a lot of noise when they discovered what had happened but, to be honest, that only made things worse as the little chick tried to reach them along the ridge but kept constantly slipping down the roof. I don’t know what eventually happened to the wee thing but I presume it fell off the roof and died.

The good news is that there is still one chick in the nest, and the parents are, so far, taking good care of it. Whether or not it survives to adulthood remains to be seen. Fingers crossed!