SEAGULLS

It's that time of year again when Fred and Rose return from warmer climes to mate in full view of guests in the rear rooms of the Avalon, and go on to produce a brood of chicks with remarkably antisocial natures.

I got some early intervention underway - a plastic falcon which I filled with cement and then cemented into a plant tray and placed strategically on our flat roof staring straight at their ledge. They came back two weeks ago, squawked alarmingly and left.

Yesterday they were back but today, the workmen arrived for the lady who lives in the house and covered the small flat roof they call home with netting. So they cannot land!

I'll keep you posted but it would seem their nesting site for some years has been closed down and rendered unusable.

I have to admit to not feeling too sad about this!

Seagull Update 7 August 2009

Much of what I am telling you was already posted on the website http://www.avalonbrighton.co.uk/ under 'News' but because it was getting a bit long I've decided this is a better place to ramble on about things in general (and feisty seagulls in particular on this occasion).

Nobody visiting the coast can ignore the huge white turkey-sized herring gulls, and lesser black-backed gulls we have flying, roosting, dive bombing, bin raiding, top ridge of church roof sitting or generally noise making in our city.

Anybody visiting the Avalon will be aware we follow the affairs of the seagull kingdom with some interest. After all, they disappear for months on end over the winter and return faithfully each April to roost on their favourite roof.

This year we have been honoured (ha!) with two chicks on our flat roof although how they got there is a bit of a mystery. Actually I think one was catapulted there and the other I put with it when it (also mysteriously) appeared on the flat roof next door and promptly fell with a plop ontp our shed roof from which I undertook a rescue mission so hazardous it nerves me still.

It was my suspicion from day one these two seagulls were not siblings although they instantly bonded on our flat roof and the parents of the first one seemed happy to rear them both (to the intense displeasure of the parent of the second one). The lady who lives behind the Avalon found one of the chicks dead in her yard and I think the other was conveniently popped onto our roof by somebody.

However they are now quite big and almost ready to fly away leaving us with some well needed noiseless nights and a guano encrusted flat roof.

My next door neighbour recently asked when 'your seagulls will be big enough to leave' like I had bought them at a pet shop or hatched them myself under a heat lamp. The answer however is soon as they now shriek with a mixture of delight and fear as their wings strengthen. I try to imagine what it is like as a bird watching your parents come and go and other seagulls gliding effortlessly in the skies above while you have puny little fluff coated wings that get you nowhere. A bit like chickens. Did chickens ever fly?

However back to our fellows - their wingspans are now quite impressive. I just went up to leave them a bowl of water which they drink, splash over themselves then stand in. One 'flew' the length of the roof and I reckon only has days to go. He is the dominant one - bold at the window and only backing away slightly when I open it. The other is a bit more reticent. I think the bold one is the herring gull as he was slightly bigger from day one. The other is the lesser black backed gull, offspring of Fred and Rose.

The parent of the herring gull has kept a vigil on the flat roof next door and makes a terrible fuss whenever I go into the yard or open the window to give them water or croissants. I've included a picture of her.

As I write this one of the seagulls has just come crashing down into the backyard in a flurry of feathers and flapping wings. Both parents went nuts and a melee ensued across the neighbourhood. I grabbed a towel and threw it across the bird (which must know me by now), wrapped him up and quickly legged it upstairs and popped him back on the roof. Were the parents thankful? Hardly, the black-winged parent came for me but just held back. All is quiet again now though. The whole episode over in about 4 minutes. It's lucky I was here though. A few years ago we went out and left the back french doors open and came back to find a seagull sitting on our sofa watching Sky News.