There’s a new gull on the roof

20 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by theresagreen in bird behaviour, Nature of Wales, nature photography, Rhos-on-Sea

Tags

herring gull, herring gull chick, herring gulls in towns, rhos on sea

Herring Gulls have featured in a good few of my posts: they are a characterful part of everyday life here in Rhos-on-Sea and although they make noisy neighbours, are somewhat bossy and seem to delight in covering our cars with their guano, life would be the poorer without them.

A couple of weeks ago, on June 8th to be exact, I was woken at some ridiculously early hour by a great cacophony of gull cries and shrieks being made right outside the bedroom window, which is just a metre above the large flat roof of the kitchen below. I am fairly used to their late spring-early summer, very early- morning territorial proclaiming racket now, but this was not the usual wake-up alarm, which I have learned to almost ignore, so I had to get up to have a look.

The fuss was all about a single, fluffy brown-grey speckled chick. How it arrived on our roof I have no idea, I know there are nesting birds somewhere up on the main roof around next-door’s chimneys, but as far as I am aware there were no nests on any part of the lower flat roofs this year. So, had it fallen from a nest higher up, or even been carried down? If the former, was it OK? I had no way of knowing, just one more thing to worry about! (We have had young gulls here before, but bigger older ones that had left nests deliberately).

8 June 2013-Warning – New parent, very protective

Although early in the morning it was already very sunny and the parent birds ‘parked’ the chick in the shade of one of the ‘lanterns’ set into the roof. That possibly explained why they were on our bit, neither neighbour has any shaded areas, although still no clue as to how the chick got there.

Parent watching the sky for trouble

The fussing, flapping and general hullabaloo continued for some while, but gradually the ruffled feathers smoothed and the excitement mellowed into an uneasy peace.

Once their offspring was settled, one parent stayed on close guard, the female I think, whilst the other either went off to look for food or maybe to sit higher up on the main roof to keep look out. The one that stayed remained wary, keeping a watchful eye on the sky above and patrolling around her chick. She did settle next to it eventually, but was very restless.

The mother settled eventually, but remained alert

Then of course, once she settled down, the chick woke up and stood to stretch its legs. That came as a relief, at least it wasn’t injured and about to expire.

Chick awake and stretching its legs, mother still watching the sky

The chick was soon keen to investigate the world around him and went for a little wander. Fortunately it chose to wander onto the adjoining next-door roof which is covered with mossy lichen and he was pretty well camouflaged there.

8/6/13 On the adjoining next-door roof, the chick was almost perfectly camouflaged

After a surprisingly short length of time the parent flew off and left the chick to its own devices, although as I said before it’s possible the other one was watching from above. And food has to be searched for.

Mum back with breakfast

The adult gulls were very aware of my interest in them and stood immediately in front of the window squawking and giving me distinctly threatening looks.

The female gull watching me, giving me the evil eye.

Female Herring Gulls are slightly smaller than the males and have a ‘softer’ look to the eyes (usually), but I’m glad I had glass between us, I would not like to make her angry and be within striking distance of that beak. (All of my photographs are taken through the glass of the window!)

I would not like to be on the receiving end of that beak

13th June

Gull life settled into a bit of a routine over the following few days. The family doesn’t spend the nights on our roof and I can’t see where they go, but they arrive back noisily in the mornings. The chick gets left alone a lot, initially resting in the shade and relative safety of one or other of the lanterns, but now it is bigger it wanders more, investigating anything and everything that looks vaguely edible. The parents are diligent in their feeding, arriving back with regular meals, their arrival always announced with a great deal of vocal noise and exaggerated wing flapping. The young one is already beginning to practice the territorial, concerted squawking, joining in with its parents when they perform to whatever is above them. Herring Gulls are proper drama queens.

13/6/13-One week on and the chick is getting bolder. Checking out a cable to see if it’s edible

13/6/13-Herring Gull chick one week later.

Playing host to some noisy summer visitors

03 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by theresagreen in bird behaviour, Nature, nature photography, Rhos-on-Sea

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

coastal birds, herring gull, herring gull breeding behaviour, herring gull young, herring gulls calling, herring gulls in towns, herring gulls nesting on roofs

The sight and sound of Herring gulls are an integral part of the local community here and as I wrote last year, you either love them or you loathe them. Personally I rather like them, but having just endured this year’s breeding season and had them as very close boarders, I may have gone off them slightly! The Edwardian building we occupy the centre part of played host to two nesting pairs this year, one pair on either side of us, each settling into the top of a tall terracotta chimney pot. I can see the appeal for them, quiet neighbourhood, excellent panoramic penthouse views, just a minute’s flap from the sea, a wide variety of eating opportunities close by. .. Unfortunately from a landlady’s viewpoint, they were not the ideal ‘guests’ and the noise levels were, frankly, unsociable. Stuck in the middle of the two nests sites we were subjected to frequent sessions of raucous territorial shrieking in stereo. Requests to pipe down a bit fell on deaf ears.

Once the offspring hatched the sessions became even more frequent, then reached their peak once the youngsters fledged. That was when they moved down onto our flat roof, which is just below my bedroom window, and really made their presence heard.

A very newly fledged gull, the offspring of pair number two

Herring gulls herald the crack of dawn very loudly, which at the time was around 4.30am, so that’s when I woke up too. They are much louder than cockerels and even less tuneful.

Even persistent rain does not dampen the desire to squawk

The proximity of the gulls definitely disturbed the usual peace of the neighbourhood, but on the positive side it also literally gave me a window into part of their daily lives. I soon realised that the bouts of loud calling are not a random act, the birds use their powerful voices to call to their partners and offspring as well as to declare their possession of a territory and to warn off intruders. As the youngsters grow in confidence and flying ability improves they leave their ‘home’ area to explore, but parents still return there with food and summon them back to eat it.

The adults always called loudly before delivering food to their young, perhaps it stimulates regurgitation?

The adults had a ritual; each time they arrived back with food they began calling loudly, starting off with their heads lowered, then raising them, cranking up the volume until they reached a crescendo with head thrown back and beak opened fully.

You would not want to be on the sharp end of that beak

They are vigilant and attentive parents and deal patiently with harassment by their young ones that persistently beg for food. I’m not sure they are very well versed in nutrition though; ever the opportunists I saw them bring forth a variety of foodstuffs, including french fries, raw chicken, bits of crab and a still-wriggling starfish.

This starfish was definitely fresh, still wriggling in fact

The gulls took time out in the afternoons to rest together, the pair work together to raise their young and appear to be well bonded. Although they would appear to be relaxed, they were ever-vigilant and well aware of the presence of other birds in their airspace, taking it in turns to issue warnings.

The male of the pair starting off vocal proceedings . *note the sunlight show through the thin membrane below his beak

Your turn dear …..

All squawked out

Teaching junior how its done – a family session

A postcard to our summer visitors: “Thank you for an interesting and educational few weeks, but I’m glad you’re no longer here. Perhaps you might enjoy trying a new location next year? I understand the chips are rather good in Llandudno, or how about Rhyl …..?”

New gulls on the block

17 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by theresagreen in bird behaviour, Birdwatching on North Wales coast, Nature, nature photography

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

coastal birds, herring gull, herring gulls in towns, larus argentatus, rhos on sea

I’ve been away quite a bit lately, so there’s quite a bit of catching up to do here in Rhos-on-Sea. The weather here, as everywhere else has not been conducive to venturing far, but I have been able to do some very productive birdwatching from my bedroom window, which I probably would not have done had I been out and about, so some clouds do have silver linings. In this case the silver has been in the shape of Herring Gulls – (the scientific name larus argentatus translates as silver gull). The activity has been brought about by the recent fledging of the single offspring produced by the pair that nested atop our next-door neighbour’s chimney pot.

At first the young gull spent a lot of time resting on the flat roof, where it is surprisingly well camouflaged.

The newly-fledged gull resting

In between bouts of resting it wandered around the rooftop picking at the odd collection of sticks, shells, bones and other random items brought there by its parents hoping to find something edible it may have missed.

First portrait of the new arrival

I don’t need to sit and watch and wait for the parents to arrive with food as both adult and their young one set off such a cacophony of noise at the sight of one another I can hear them from wherever I am in the house. Once a parent lands the youngster automatically adopts the typical crouched, hunched shoulder begging posture that makes it look a bit like a small vulture.

In begging posture

The loud communication between the two birds continues for a minute or so, then the parent allows the young one to approach and finally to tap the red spot on its beak to stimulate the regurgitation of the food it has brought.

The young gull approaching its parent

Getting into position

The young gull taps the red spot on its parent’s beak to stimulate regurgitation of its lunch

What follows is not pretty as the parent brings back whatever food it has managed to find and deposits it in front of its youngster. It seems to be thriving on a diet that does not always look particularly healthy; in the following pictures the meal is raw chicken, but on another occasion it was a pile of french fries. There have also been more natural offerings of crab, which is consumed shell and all and small fish.

The adult regurgitating raw meat, maybe chicken

Fortunately the young gull is not a fussy eater

Once the food has been swallowed by the young one the parent leaves immediately, its departure once more accompanied by more loud cries.

Over the course of the last few days the young gull has gained much in confidence and now flies off to spend much of the day elsewhere, but it is still returning to the high roof in the evenings with its parents and to the flat roof for intervals, maybe to rest where it feels safe.

The young one is gaining in confidence and strength daily

Herring Gulls-love them or loathe them

19 Friday Aug 2011

Posted by theresagreen in birds of the seashore, birds of Wales, garden wildlife, Nature, Nature of Wales

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

herring gull, herring gull nuisance, herring gull status, herring gulls in towns, herring gulls nesting on roofs, larus argentus

April 2011

A pair of Herring Gulls are regularly visiting the flat roof immediately below the window of the bedroom I am staying in. At the moment they are not roosting here overnight, but they arrive back early each morning, announcing their arrival with much raucous calling and strutting around. I have been very aware of Herring gulls locally, flying around, perching on rooftops and up amongst the chimney pots, but put it down to being so close to the seashore where there appears to be plenty of natural food. However it would seem that a number of pairs have claimed several of the chimney-rich sites as nest locations. Their strongly territorial and aggressive-defensive behaviour makes them difficult and, sadly, dreaded birds to have as close neighbours, which is a pity as when viewed closely and unemotionally, they are very clean-looking and handsome birds, if a touch arrogant in demeanour.

European Herring Gull – Larus argentatus

Length 55-67cm; Wingspan 130-158cm

The Herring Gull is one of the commonest gulls of Northern European coasts, bigger than a Common Gull it has rather fierce-looking pale eyes with a yellow iris and pink legs and feet.

A visit to the seaside wouldn’t be the same without the sound of gulls, but when they are intent on sharing your house, you rather wish they’d turn the volume down. A very noisy bird it makes a variety of squealing notes, sometimes sounding like it may be chuckling and also producing some quite dog-like yelping and ‘barking’ sounds.

A Herring Gull peacefully resting in the sun

The male gull brought in some strange ‘tokens’ for his chosen mate, a turkey-leg bone and a fairly large piece of stone amongst them, and they began to display bonding behaviour, the female ‘begging’ for food, and greeting one another vocally and with body contact.

I am very interested in the ways in which wildlife interacts (and learns to exploit) people and although I had no previous experience of living this closely to them, I was aware that herring gulls had a reputation for some anti-social behavioural traits. We had a chat with the next-door neighbour, who related her previous experiences with locally nesting gulls that could have come from the Hitchcock horror story. She alleged attacks made against herself, her visitors and particularly her dog, whilst minding their own business in their own garden! She had rung the RSPCA who had told her there was nothing she could do as the birds were protected, and that the nuisance would only last for seven weeks while the birds were nesting!

A herring gull nest built on a flat roof

I was keen to learn more, so began to research the subject, beginning by checking out the status of the gulls. Surprisingly perhaps, the herring gull has been accorded red status by the RSPB, the highest conservation priority, as its numbers have declined dramatically in its former haunts, disappearing completely from some areas. (There are 40% less herring gulls now than in 1970) To quote from a page on their website , this means that:

” Gulls, like all UK wild bird species, are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This makes it a criminal offence to kill, injure or take a gull; or to take, damage or destroy its nest whilst the nest is in use or being built. It is also a criminal offence to take or destroy their eggs.”

The best general information I found concerning the bird-human interaction was on Wikipedia and thought it worth reading in full:

” The European Herring Gull is an increasingly common roof-nesting bird in urban areas of the UK. The Clean Air Act of 1956 forbade the burning of refuse at landfill sites, providing the European Herring Gull with a regular and plentiful source of food. As a direct result of this, European Herring Gull populations in Britain sky-rocketed. Faced with a lack of space at their traditional colonies, the gulls ventured inland in search of new breeding grounds. Dwindling fish stocks in the seas around Britain may also have been a significant factor in the gulls’ move inland.

The gulls are found all year round in the streets and gardens of Britain, due to the presence of street lighting, (which allows the gulls to forage at night), discarded food in streets, food waste contained in easy-to-tear plastic bin bags, food intentionally left out for other birds (or the gulls themselves), the relative lack of predators and readily available, convenient, warm and undisturbed rooftop nesting space in towns and cities. Particularly large urban gull colonies (composed primarily of European Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed gulls are now present in the cities of Cardiff, Bristol, Gloucester and Aberdeen to name but a few.

The survival rate for urban gulls is much higher than their counterparts in coastal areas, with an annual adult mortality rate of less than 5%. It is also common for each European Herring Gull pair to successfully rear three chicks per year. This, when combined with the long-lived nature of European Herring Gulls, has resulted in a massive increase in numbers over a relatively short period of time and has brought the species into conflict with humans.

Once familiar with humans, urban European Herring Gulls show little hesitation in swooping down to steal food from the hands of humans. During the breeding season, the gulls will also aggressively ‘dive bomb’ and attempt to strike with claws and wings (sometimes spraying faeces or vomit at the same time) at humans that they perceive to be a threat to their eggs and chicks — often innocent passers-by or residents of the buildings on which they have constructed their nests. Large amounts of gull excrement deposited on property and the noise from courting pairs and begging chicks in the summer months is also considered to be a nuisance by humans living alongside the European Herring Gull. Non-lethal attempts to deter the gulls from nesting in urban areas have been largely unsuccessful. The European Herring Gull is intelligent and will completely ignore most ‘bird-scaring’ technology after determining that it poses no threat. Rooftop spikes, tensioned wires, netting and similar are also generally ineffective against this species, as it has large, wide feet with thick, leathery skin which affords the seagull excellent weight distribution and protection from sharp objects (the bird may simply balance itself on top of these obstacles with little apparent concern). If nests are removed and eggs are taken, broken, or oiled, the gulls will simply rebuild and/or re-lay, or choose another nest site in the same area and start again.

Attempts to scare the gulls away using raptors are similarly ineffective. Although they are intimidated by birds of prey, European Herring Gulls, in addition to being social birds with strength in numbers, are large, powerful and aggressive as individuals and are more than capable of fighting back against the potential predator, particularly if they consider their chicks to be at risk. European Herring Gulls are also naturally accustomed to predators (such as Skuas and Great Black-backed Gulls) living in the vicinity of their nest sites in the ‘wild’ and are not particularly discouraged from breeding by their presence.

Despite the increasing number of urban European Herring Gulls in the UK, the species, when taken as a whole is declining significantly across the country, its population having decreased by 50% in 25 years. In 2009, the RSPB placed the European Herring Gull on its ‘Red List’ of threatened bird species, affording it the highest possible conservation status. In response, Natural England in January 2010, following a public consultation, removed the European Herring Gull from the list of species covered by its general licenses, which had previously permitted authorized persons (e.g. landowners or occupiers) to kill the birds under certain circumstances (e.g. to prevent serious damage to crops or livestock, to prevent disease, or to preserve public health or safety) without requiring additional permission. ”

It would seem that there is no easy quick-fix solution to the problem and currently not a lot you can do if the birds take a fancy to nesting on your roof, there doesn’t seem to be a great deal of advice or help available to householders either, a bit worrying bearing in mind that many of them won’t be aware of the law.

A LOCALLY-RELATED SNIPPET FROM THE ABOVE ARTICLE: