Herring Gulls

Lade - warm, dry, cloudy, nw 2 - Love `em or loath `em, but you cant avoid `em, Herring Gulls are everywhere down here on the coastal strip. They are the first noise I hear in the morning and last thing I hear at night; and often during the night as well. The buggers crap on the washing, crap on the car, crap on me, mob the dog, terrorise the cat, nest on the roof, nick the bread from under the Blackbirds beaks and last summer one even clobbered the postie and cut his head open.
Apparently, the dear old "seagull" (there, I`ve said it...) is in decline and numbers are at their lowest ebb since records began in 1969/70; although the surveys fail to take into account the amount that now nest on buildings around the British coastline and some inland towns and cities. Herring Gulls even feature as a species of "Conservation Concern" under the UK BAP (Biodiversity Action Plan). Now, let me think about that, do we want to encourage a few more of the brutes at the expense of, say, Sandwich or Common Terns, mmm, its a close one that...

                       Herring Gull on the cottage roof and within water pistol range

                                "Ha-ha, you can`t reach us up here"

Anyhow, you`ve probably gathered by now I`m not a great fan of Larus argentatus, but hey-ho, they`re only exploiting resources provided by us humans, such as a limitless supply of waste food and first class nesting and roost sites, a case of evolution in action and all that really. But their saving grace for me is an ability to spot a raptor a mile away. As soon as they kick off its always worth a look skywards, mostly its either a Grey Heron or Sparrowhawk, but every so often, such as yesterday it was a Red Kite, and they`re good at spotting Ospreys too.  So, I suppose every cloud has a silver lining, as the saying goes.