inland seagulls

Ann and I have lived in our current house for nearly 30 years.

We are around 25 miles from the nearest coastal point at Crosby on Merseyside.

In all the time we have been here we have never seen seagulls in our back garden, until yesterday when a colony of them very aggressively made their presence known. Big b*****s strutting around like they owned the place.

I understand that inland seagulls is not unusual but I can't help but think this must have something to do with the current coronavirus crisis we all face. 25 mile inland seems a long way to me so these birds must be pretty desperate.

To add insult one, or more of them unloaded their bowels on my freshly leathered MR2. Unfortunately I didn't have a shotgun handy or I would blasted him all the way back to the coast.

Anyone else seen inland gulls recently

Geoff

They're everywhere sadly Geoff. We have loads in Birmingham too. always have had.

Nobody to mug for their chips by the seaside.

Hi Geoff, do you have inland water or a resorvior near you. Here in Kent when the weather is bad we get many Seagulls coming up over the North Downs to the Lakes near Larkfield, a well known fishing area. Also there was a report that they were defacating into drinking water sources and E Coli forms being detected. You should see them at the refuse tips when rubbish is being offloaded.

Sorry to hear about your problem.

As you probably know, the French derive some amusement from the fact that your no doubt excellent car sounds like poo in their language; could they be French seagulls?

Good job you couldn't blast it. For some unknown reason all gulls are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. My opinion is that they should be classified as vermin and removed accordingly!

John

So do ducks, fish and otters...

It's a jungle out there

Neil

It’s funny they are protected when pigeons are not. Any landfill site seems to attract them by the thousands, Oxford must be as far from the sea as it’s possible to get and they have a significant presence here, a Sea Eagle has also been sighted buddying up with the Red Kites.

Mike

Journey man is correct - gulls (not seagulls).

65 years, or so, ago I remember Dad commenting when we saw a couple of gulls flying over at considerable altitude. Likely one way was spring and opposite direction autumn? Certainly not a common sight.

In those days lapwings were really common and followed the plough. 30-40(?) years later lapwings were far less common and gulls followed the plough. Nowadays nothing much follows the plough because the soil has been made devoid of bird-edible fauna by continued use of pesticides and inorganic fertilisers!

50 years ago the gulls started to occupy the local flooded clay pits which were starting to be filled with household (and other) refuse. Nowadays they live wherever there is an abundance of food to scavenge.

Schools in the local city are inundated with gulls from the local tips at every playtime, when there is lots of food discarded by the school children with dirty habits. About 20 minutes after classes restart, the playgrounds are stripped of ‘pupil droppings’, and the gulls have departed, leaving behind their own droppings.

Such is progress. Come back the 1950s-1960s, I say.

Landfill sites? We have one about 3 miles away as the crow flies or in this case the gull.

Not seen them today, expect they've gone there.

Seems they are inland a lot more than I thought.

We are always keen to attract wildlife into the garden but them yesterday was like a Hitchcock movie

Landfill sites? We have one about 3 miles away as the crow flies or in this case the gull.

Not seen them today, expect they've gone there.

Seems they are inland a lot more than I thought.

We are always keen to attract wildlife into the garden but them yesterday was like a Hitchcock movie

LOTS seem to dwell on the council tip on the other side of town. Almost more than we see over The Wash!

They seem to practice large formation flying between here and the City Hospital. Looking for thermals off the housing estate?

Howard

Edited By Frances IoM on 29/04/2020 17:45:28

A lot of gulls like cliffs, guess what blocks of flats look like?

No Howard, likely back and forth to Jack Hunt, Orton Longville or Bushfields (among others)! Although not in the last few weeks of course.

Strange thing is that a couple of days ago, in Burnley I commented to my dear wife that it sounded like Grimsby Docks (not that ive ever been there but someone did once!). Ruddy shite hawke everywhere, never noticed them before.

We haven't got any down on the south coast anymore!

Birds with attitude..what's not to like?

We get a couple of Herring Gulls that sit on the roof of the house behind us, they are magnificent birds.

Oh yes they are!

All wild birds are protected. Wood pigeon and collard doves can be controlled under the (recently changed to be much stricter) terms of the general licence.