inland seagulls

[geoff walker 1Participant @geoffwalker1]

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

[geoff walker 1Participant @geoffwalker1]

[LainchyParticipant @lainchy]

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

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Nobody to mug for their chips by the seaside.

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

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.

[egaParticipant @ega]

Posted by geoff walker 1 on 29/04/2020 14:20:12:

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.

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?

[JourneymanParticipant @journeyman]

Posted by geoff walker 1 on 29/04/2020 14:20:12:

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.

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

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Clive Hartland on 29/04/2020 15:17:19:

Also there was a report that they were defacating into drinking water sources and E Coli forms being detected.

So do ducks, fish and otters…

It's a jungle out there

Neil

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

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

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

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.

[geoff walker 1Participant @geoffwalker1]

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

[geoff walker 1Participant @geoffwalker1]

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

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

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

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

Herring gulls can be very aggressive especially if they are nesting nearby – they are also aggressive in snatching food – eg icecream or sandwiches etc during the journey from hand to mouth is quite a common learnt approach.

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

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

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

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Posted by Howard Lewis on 29/04/2020 17:36:38:

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

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

[nigel jones 5Participant @nigeljones5]

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.

[vintage engineerParticipant @vintageengineer]

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

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

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

[VicParticipant @vic]

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

[GavlarParticipant @gavlar]

Posted by Mike Poole on 29/04/2020 16:17:46:

It’s funny they are protected when pigeons are not.

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.

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Don’t know where on the South Coast you live Vintage Engineer but I live in East Sussex and we certainly haven’t lost our gulls, they are as always present and squawking. They are a real pest nesting on flat roofs and being super aggressive once their young start to become mobile. I cannot understand why they are still protected they are a perpetual nuisance.
Dave W

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Posted by Samsaranda on 30/04/2020 10:16:34:

… I cannot understand why they are still protected they are a perpetual nuisance.
Dave W

Because being a nuisance is not a capital offence.

Rod

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

It should be Rod. 👹

Dave W

[Adam MaraParticipant @adammara]

We live 4 miles from the Wash, I don't know what one of our neighbours puts out, but we often get a flock of seagulls circling round and diving into their garden. They don't visit our garden, probably because at least 4 of the neighbourhood cats use it as a convenience and cat fight ground!

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