Gull and heron

 

Gull and heron

Lesser black-backed gull

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Hacking my way through the jungle Doing a little gentle gardening on Sunday, trying to conquer trimming the clematis that was strangling climbing through the Eucalyptus and the Olivers (Swiss willow, Salix Helvetica) I heard a persistent mewing cry, almost like a cat. A gull was calling, which is not unusual, but it was remaining in the same area, not flying on to the nature reserve nearby, as gulls commonly do.

It cried for such a long time that I began to wonder if it was trapped somewhere. Suddenly, it appeared, chasing a heron which was considerably larger than it. We could not identify it, but it was probably either a herring gull or a lesser black-backed gull.

It is too early for eggs or fledglings, unless the quirky weather has disturbed their rhythms. Gulls mate for life and conduct their courtship from late March onwards, through to September, though principally between March and April, after which they build their untidy nests and lay their eggs. Often, they will return to the previous year’s site if the nest is still intact. 

We have seen a heron in the garden several times recently, presumably intent on feeding on our pond fish. They are such nervous birds that it is very difficult to photograph them, though we have managed to snap them from inside the house on a few occasions.

Heron, 2018

However, it is not just fish that herons eat. They are quite opportunistic omnivores, taking snails, rats, frogs, small birds like robins and larger species like wood pigeons. They will even kill and eat other herons. Maybe the heron we saw had been attempting to kill the gull and discovered that it had met its match. We'll never know!

 

Heron, 2023

Gull

 

Gulls

The latest post box topper near my home features a gull, an ice cream and a bag of chips (fries for the Americans among us). These are all features of a British summer.

The gull has a chip in its beak. Gulls are notorious in seaside locations for their thieving ways, swooping down on unsuspecting visitors to steal a lump of fish, a tasty chip, a piece of cake or any other toothsome morsel. In short, anything a human is eating is considered fair game. They can be very aggressive and difficult to deter. Probably the best way to escape being targeted by ravenous gulls is to avoid eating outside!

There is no such species as a ‘seagull’ but we all call the flying creatures around the seaside seagulls, even when they come inland to scavenge in rubbish tips. They are very difficult to identify and change their vestments according to the season and their age. The bird on the post box is probably a Lesser black-backed gull, with its yellow beak and legs. The Herring gull has a yellow beak, but its legs are pink.

On reflection, the post box gull looks very like the seagull in one of the Wallace and Gromit films!