Herring Gulls

[VO5]

Well, I have a yellow legged gull as a friend I call Jimmy, a handsome beast with a wingspan I estimate at 4 feet and beak to tail about 18 inches...
This is a bird I rescued when injured. I found it on the beach crippled by an airgun pellet under its left wing.
So I threw a pullover over it and took it to the vet. The vet was unable to remove the pellet (which is visible in an xray he took) but he explained the bird would recover eventually.
So I took it home and put it in a cardboard box lined with wood shavings and looked after it.
The bird allowed me to stroke its feathers and feed it off a tablespoon but as it began to recover it became somewhat unruly and fierce, trying to peck at my hand when I approached to feed it. Two weeks later the bird disappeared. I was very surprised that it could fly with one dropped wing, but I subsequently caught a glimpse of it two miles away, in the harbour.
A year after the event, SWMBO was hanging out the washing on the terrace upstairs whilst I looked through my binocs at a very interesting gas carrier anchored in the bay, when she remarked that there were two gulls overhead doing strange swoopings and whirls.
I said to her probably they were nesting, or trying to protect chicks.
She went below to prepare lunch. I remained on the terrace.
Suddenly...both the birds descended and landed on the wall 10 feet away. One was bigger than the other.
The bigger one strutted towards me and came very close....really very close...only 2 feet or less...totally without fear, which I at first thought unusual...and just stood there looking at me first with one eye, then the other eye...trying to convey something...
The other one, the smaller one, was very shy, and kept its distance at first. But seeing the example of the bigger one came very close too. It was a fantastic experience with wildlife I had never had before. This visit lasted for a minute or so, and then they both took off.
This was the first contact I had with Jimmy, since I saved him.
Obviously he had spotted me and came to introduce his girlfriend and to express his gratitude.
But for several days following, (because I work from home) I couldn't help but notice this particular seagull kept on flying past my window incessantly to and fro so close the wing tip was 6 inches away from my window pane, and screeching loudly.
The bird was looking for me !
The bird had found out where I lived, isn't that amazing ?
What is even more amazing is that Jimmy now visits every day.
Jimmy arrives every morning at between 10 and 1030.
I feed him by hand and he sits quietly on my balcony watching everything I do, which is amazing because I have a workhorse there on which I do my carpentry, using noisy tools (jigsaw, handsaw) and tools involving movement(smoothing plane, sanding) but none of it frightens him. In fact he takes a very great interest in everything.
Then he flies away.
He returns at 5 pm, very nearly on the dot.
I give him another snack off a plate. He remains there sitting on his tummy until sunset.
When he flies above I call him and he descends and sits on my balcony whether I feed him or not.
A really fantastic creature indeed, beautiful to look at, yellow beak with a red spot, blue eyes with a red rim, yellow legs, spotless white breast feathers and grey wings and black tail feathers with 4 white spots on each.
SWMBO has noticed that on Fridays he does a lot of preening, plucking at and rearranging his feathers fastidiously.
We think on Friday nights he goes clubbing because he doesn't do it on any other day.

 

[VO5]

I forgot to tell you...
He likes chickpeas, ravioli, green peas, rice, toast with butter, chocolate, cream crackers, milk, ice cream, cold tea, potato crisps, teramasalata, hummous, tunny in oil, tinned sardines, fishbones, biscuits, veal scraps, potato chips, sausages, but will not eat tomato or peppers, turns his beak up at them. Also will not let any other seagull settle on the balcony and doesn't poo on it either because he sits on the ledge facing inwards, watches the television and drops his plops on the street below instead. If I bring out a transistor radio playing music, he squawkes along with the tune.
Now, don't ever say animals are not loyal or intelligent.
He is an excellent barometer too.
Disregarding what the weatherforecast might announce, he suddenly disappears for up to 4 days. No sooner has he disappeared than the weather suddeny worsens. When he returns (and I estimate he goes to Morocco) it means the bad weather is over. Unfailingly his return is accompanied by light airs and sunshine. Funny.

 

[Daydream believer]

Same with New Forest ponies - feed them, they may demand more when you stop.
They are big strong birds, and capable fo doing quite a lot of damage.

Wow just think of the mess if they start nesting in your rigging

 

[Daydream believer]

Is jimmy still wearing the pullover?

 

[Babylon]

The problem with us humans is that we think we have a divine right to exist, eat our chips in a sanitised environment and sail our pride-and-joys without the decks being sullied by avian excrement - and that nothing else has any right to stave off hunger or feed their young.

Actually, no-one has any rights whatsoever. Birds are direct descendants from dinosaurs and have been evolving - ie optimising - to their changing environments over geological timescales. By contrast we're just Johnny-Come-Lately, and our greatest achievement to date has been to overwhelm the resources of every corner of the planet.

I think its brilliant that us pea-brained automatons on holiday are sometimes rudely reminded by real life.

PS - I love VO5's rescue of Jimmy. Got any photos of your feathered friend?

 

[charles_reed]

Herring gulls are interestingly intelligent and very aggressive. As far as I know there is no shortage of adults or plans to cull them - even though the RSPB is announcing the lesser Black Back gull is in danger of extinction, they appear to be under a delusion as everyone else all over the world is saying that larus fuscus is alive and doing just dandy.
Certainly the greater Black-back is a large bird and even more aggressive than it's smaller cousin the herring gull. Fortunately they seldom come farther S than the Irish Sea (don't know about the E coast) and are welcome to go on terrorising the Scots.
There are, however about 12 distinct sub-species of gulls - the herring gull being the noisiest - and I suspect the sightings of all these alleged juveniles is probably viewing of others, such as the glaucous gull.
In the Med one finds few herring gulls - mainly black-heads and the Mediterranean gull - even around demos' rubbish tips - I suspect the herring gull finds the Brits easier to terrorise and less likely to wring their necks - certainly gull is considered a delicacy in some parts of Maltese society.

 

[VO5]

Is jimmy still wearing the pullover?

No. But he is learning the chorus to "Rigoletto".

I play it for him and pause appropriately, he squawks, then I continue and stop and he squawks, and I continue and so on...

He has just finished his lunch of spinach pie and yellow corn and is sitting on his tummy on the balcony watching SWMBO watching TV through the open sliding door to the balcony. He is very interested in everything that goes on here.

When he sees me or SWMBO appear with food he does a little dance, really cute.

 

[VO5]

The problem with us humans is that we think we have a divine right to exist, eat our chips in a sanitised environment and sail our pride-and-joys without the decks being sullied by avian excrement - and that nothing else has any right to stave off hunger or feed their young.

Actually, no-one has any rights whatsoever. Birds are direct descendants from dinosaurs and have been evolving - ie optimising - to their changing environments over geological timescales. By contrast we're just Johnny-Come-Lately, and our greatest achievement to date has been to overwhelm the resources of every corner of the planet.

I think its brilliant that us pea-brained automatons on holiday are sometimes rudely reminded by real life.

PS - I love VO5's rescue of Jimmy. Got any photos of your feathered friend?

I will get a friend to come and take pictures at feeding time.

 

[johnalison]

We do get greater black backs on the East Coast, though most of our gulls are black-headed. I have a sharp-eyed friend who sees Mediterranean gulls occasionally too. Birds seem to travel long distances because I've seen guillemots off our coast and this year a small squadron of gannets somewhere near Foulger's Gat (middle of Thames estuary).

 

[VO5]

In my post above, I recount how Jimmy disappears in advance of bad weather...
He usually disappears until the day after it has ended. Then if he disappears for say four days it may mean he flies for two days to his destination and then returns.
When I was a deck officer and we steamed at 15 knots, seagulls could keep up easily flying along in parallel for hours on end.
Therefore, I calculate Jimmy can fly 24 X 15 = 360 nautical miles in a day, which is quite a lot.
I should not be surprised if he flies to Casablanca and back, amazing.

 

[harry potter]

Over to Morocco? I hadn't clocked your location. Anyway lovely, lovely story. Can I pass it on to the RSPB - not that they will be interested.

 

[alahol2]

You should get Jimmy on YouTube, I reckon he could go 'viral'.

 

[Seajet]

VO5,

lovely story.

A while ago in Dartmouth I had just bought a piece of battered cod and was holding it to take a bite, when voom ! A white blurr and I had just the bit between my fingers left; the flying was so skilful I hardly felt a thing.

Good luck to him, I'd have thought sailors should have a soft spot for Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.

 

[daviddb]

I wonder if Jimmy -the-gull is sufficiently amenable to have one of those mini-gps tracking capsule jobbies attached to his ankle - it would be fascinating to know where he gets to....

 

[dylanwinter]

You should get Jimmy on YouTube, I reckon he could go 'viral'.

this guy joins the line of old blokes at the welk stall in lowestoft and waits his turn

been doing it for five years

they stay with their partners for 25 years - the males feed the females

 

[Yngmar]

Was there a gull blight a few years ago? Or is Brighton largely for young gulls these days and the older ones migrate to Peacehaven?

Neither, it's simply winter and being intelligent birds, most of them have buggered off to warmer climes. The ones left behind are a few stubborn holdouts as well as those born too late to have the strength for the long flight. Don't worry, they'll be back in huge numbers in spring, sitting on the roofs ready to laugh up a storm at the first crack of dawn (around 4am on long summer days), much to the distress of locals. You'll not miss them then, and I recommend some ear plugs if you like to sleep past 4am.

 

[laika]

Neither, it's simply winter and being intelligent birds, most of them have buggered off to warmer climes.

Thanks: that makes sense. Not being especially ornithologically clued up I hadn't considered that much like humans the sensible ones might migrate leaving the less well-off here. It's at least 70% juveniles at the marina, maybe slightly more adults in town.

As well as satisfying my curiosity we've got the lovely tale of Jimmy out of this thread, although I was a bit disappointed that we missed the bit where VO5 discovered the pellet scar on Jimmy's wing. Maybe Daydream believer was right and it *was* the jumper, but we all all know how those can be sort of passed on at christmas if they're not particularly stylish so that would be no guarantee of the same bird.

 

[macd]

In the Med one finds few herring gulls - mainly black-heads and the Mediterranean gull - even around demos' rubbish tips - I suspect the herring gull finds the Brits easier to terrorise and less likely to wring their necks - certainly gull is considered a delicacy in some parts of Maltese society.

Herring gulls are almost unknown in the Med, although there are plenty of yellow-legged gulls around, which are very much like herring gulls in all respects, except hg's have pink legs.

 

[VO5]

Thanks: that makes sense. Not being especially ornithologically clued up I hadn't considered that much like humans the sensible ones might migrate leaving the less well-off here. It's at least 70% juveniles at the marina, maybe slightly more adults in town.

As well as satisfying my curiosity we've got the lovely tale of Jimmy out of this thread, although I was a bit disappointed that we missed the bit where VO5 discovered the pellet scar on Jimmy's wing. Maybe Daydream believer was right and it *was* the jumper, but we all all know how those can be sort of passed on at christmas if they're not particularly stylish so that would be no guarantee of the same bird.

Hang on, seriously now....

I have the X Ray taken by the vet. The pellet was not on the wing, the pellet was embedded in the breast tissue under the wing, preventing the bird from flapping it or even lifting it properly.

The vet tried to remove the pellet but had difficulty in actually accurately locating it when the bird was under anaesthetic on the table in my presence.

So he decided not to dig around further to avoid damage.

He explained that the bird would eventually recover (which he did of course) and that the bird's life might be shortened by 3 or 4 years at the maximum, but the bird would fly (which he does, effortlessly) but that in any case yellow legged gulls have lifespans of over 30 years.

Today he came to visit at the appointed time and I fed him by hand Spaghetti Bolognese which he loved, and didn't peck my fingers as I fed him the spaghetti. The meat content he ate out of a tablespoon. No opera practice today.

 

[VO5]

Herring gulls are almost unknown in the Med, although there are plenty of yellow-legged gulls around, which are very much like herring gulls in all respects, except hg's have pink legs.

That's right. The legs are pinkish yellow. The knee joints are the opposite to ours. So they sit on their legs and webbed feet pointing forward, not backward, under their tummies.

The Webbed footies have three tiny tiny brown claws evenly spaced, cute really...