Yet Another Cycling Forum
Random Musings => Miscellany => Where The Wild Things Are => Topic started by: Cudzoziemiec on 13 November, 2021, 06:14:34 pm
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I vaguely remember someone posting something along the lines of "we don't have anything as exotic as seagulls here", which made me think they must be somewhere really exotic not to have seagulls. Suffice to say they're a common sight in and around Bristol, about ten miles from the sea proper. Also in Bath, another ten miles inland. And in Gloucester and in lots of places. I'm sure I've seen them in properly inland places too. But over the last week I've been to Cardiff, a mere five miles from the sea, and also to Bournemouth, and neither has seagulls. Admittedly those are just one-day snapshots. But where and where not has seagulls in Britain? And why?
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No shortage of Shitehawks amongst the Birbs of Birmingham (https://twitter.com/kimble4/status/1437382464788369415), which is almost as far from the sea as it gets.
Presumably it would have to be a rural area, with a lack of a) fish or b) scavenging opportunities, possibly combined with predators and/or angry toffs with shotguns.
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Also in Oxford
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I don't think there are many on the tops of the Cairngorms (though it's been quite a few years since I've been there).
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Being pedantic, they’re not (none of them) Seagulls. Just Gulls of different varieties. We don’t appear have any around here, but we do have Terns on the local reservoirs.
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I'm coming to the opinion that "seagulls" is not only taxonomically incorrect, it isn't even descriptive of their habits. How about litter gulls? Bin gulls?
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Alternatively, since they thrive on the rubbish that some of us throw on the ground, they are sometimes called shitehawks.
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Quite a few on the Grand Union Canal here in Uxbridge ::-)
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Being pedantic, they’re not (none of them) Seagulls. Just Gulls of different varieties. We don’t appear have any around here, but we do have Terns on the local reservoirs.
Phew
I opened this thread, expecting the first post to point out "there is no such thing as a seagull". Was starting to get worried until I got to the 4th post.
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I’ll not mention that there are no seagulls, then. ;D
There are gulls in Cardiff. I have seen them at Sophia Gardens.
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Definitely more gulls in Bristol than Cardiff. Also a lot more litter. Cardiff was remarkably clean for a British city. Might be different when there's rugby on.
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Anyone noticed gulls come further inland on windy days?
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https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/herring-gull/
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/black-headed-gull/
Check out the distribution maps.
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Does Bobby Seagull realise that he does not exist?
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Lots of supposedly coastal birds are often distributed inland. Many waders, which I expect to see out on the mudflats off Southend, and have a twice-daily commute to avoid the incoming tide, can also be found high in the pennines. It's really weird to me to hear a curlew or an oystercatcher 1500 feet up in the pennines. But they live, and nest, there.
Gulls likewise. They follow trawlers and tractors with equal willingness. I think the noisiest gulls I've heard were the herring gulls that roosted atop Cheltenham Ladies' College when I stayed there for a summer school about 20 years ago. The Manglement of a nearby hotel had placed an enormous plastic model of an eagle owl on their roof in an attempt to scare off the gulls, but it had the opposite effect: they dive-bombed it with loud cries as they did so. Mind you, it didn't half look impressive when you saw it silhouetted against the sunset. Several of us were convinced it was a real one for about half a day, which led to much excitement amongst the Hungarian ladies who were teaching our course.
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Why is it OK to use the term "gulls" for "various species of [mostly] white birds associated with the coast" but not OK to use "seagulls" to mean the same thing?
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Lots of supposedly coastal birds are often distributed inland.
I often see a cormorant around. We're only about 15 miles from the coast as the crow flies, but more than double that as the river flows.
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We have plenty of gulls at work - but then, the Lea Valley reservoirs are at the end of our yard, probably replete with much fishy.
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Gulls likewise. They follow trawlers and tractors with equal willingness. I think the noisiest gulls I've heard were the herring gulls that roosted atop Cheltenham Ladies' College when I stayed there for a summer school about 20 years ago. The Manglement of a nearby hotel had placed an enormous plastic model of an eagle owl on their roof in an attempt to scare off the gulls, but it had the opposite effect: they dive-bombed it with loud cries as they did so. Mind you, it didn't half look impressive when you saw it silhouetted against the sunset. Several of us were convinced it was a real one for about half a day, which led to much excitement amongst the Hungarian ladies who were teaching our course.
If it kept the pigeons away then it was doing a pretty good job.
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I vaguely remember someone posting something along the lines of "we don't have anything as exotic as seagulls here", which made me think they must be somewhere really exotic not to have seagulls. Suffice to say they're a common sight in and around Bristol, about ten miles from the sea proper. Also in Bath, another ten miles inland. And in Gloucester and in lots of places. I'm sure I've seen them in properly inland places too. But over the last week I've been to Cardiff, a mere five miles from the sea, and also to Bournemouth, and neither has seagulls. Admittedly those are just one-day snapshots. But where and where not has seagulls in Britain? And why?
Plenty in teh Fens, though I did once have a denizen of Taunton tell me there were none in Bath - I was at uni there at the time and regularly scaring them out of ornamental fountains
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We call them ‘tip gulls’ as they always on landfill sites and waste depots.
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Why is it OK to use the term "gulls" for "various species of [mostly] white birds associated with the coast" but not OK to use "seagulls" to mean the same thing?
Because that is the name.
There isn't a bird called a 'Herring seagull'. It is a Herring gull.
Gulls are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari.
Terns aren't gulls. Neither are cormorants. Gannets are white, but they aren't gulls.
[edit] shock news!
There is such a thing as a 'sea gull'.
The black-backed gull has the latin name Larus marinus, which translates to Sea Gull.
There we are, standing corrected.
Mind you, that means calling a Herring Gull a seagull is even more inaccurate.
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Herrings live in the sea, thobut.
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My understanding is that their natural habitat has been destroyed so they've adapted to feed on human food waste. I also believe that they are migratory and follow the lines of major trunk roads stopping at services to 'refuel' on discarded waste food products.
Told this by a birdwatcher but haven't followed it up to see if she speaks the truth.
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Definitely more gulls in Bristol than Cardiff. Also a lot more litter. Cardiff was remarkably clean for a British city. Might be different when there's rugby on.
You will find that the Brissle gulls are largely herring gulls, while a large proportion of the Cardiff gulls are lesser black-backed gulls.
Odd factoid: The LBBG/HG complex is astonishing, as they are effectively the same bird on the other side of the world. As you move to East or West, they steadily diverge, so we have two species that regress back to one as you circle the world.
There are LOTS of 'races' of HG. Some twitchers specialise to insane lengths.
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The other day when I was walking the dog the farmer was ploughing a small field near the village. The field was nearly completely white with gulls behind him. When the tractor turned and they took off there must have been at least 300 of them.
Normally I see maybe ten or so in the fields around here on a walk. Makes me wonder how the other 290 knew that the field was being ploughed and to turn up?
Oh and they were herring gulls I think and we are 20 miles from the sea.
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Reminds me of a bit in English Pastoral, where James Rebanks describes the realisation that slathering the fields in slurry and chemicals rather than good old fashioned manure is killing off the wee beasties:
“A mile or two past Henry’s land my father pointed to a field being ploughed up by the roadside. A giant red tractor was pulling a huge blue plough. I could sense that he was alarmed by something. ‘Look’, he said, ‘there are no seagulls or crows following the plough’. This was a shocking thing to him. ‘There must be no worms in those fields.”
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That looks like an interesting book. Could make a good birthday present!
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Reminds me of a bit in English Pastoral, where James Rebanks describes the realisation that slathering the fields in slurry and chemicals rather than good old fashioned manure is killing off the wee beasties:
Plenty of manure still used round here. It gets piled up in the corner of fields and left to steam for months before being ploughed in. Plenty of horses and cattle round here though, that's probably why they still use manure.
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Sometimes you see huge piles of grey sludge in the corner of a field, which I'm told is human manure after it's been through the sewage farm. Residue or something.
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Traditionally people in this area used seaweed. Gathered from the shore, left to rot down (and for rain to wash salt off), then spread on fields. Also traditionally, people didn't give sheep any supplemental feed.
Nobody has time for gathering seaweed anymore (well, most people). No additional fertilizer used on fields. No supplemental feeding.
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Sometimes you see huge piles of grey sludge in the corner of a field, which I'm told is human manure after it's been through the sewage farm. Residue or something.
I thought that was banned from use on crops due to EU regulations? Possibly a brexit bonus...
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Sometimes you see huge piles of grey sludge in the corner of a field, which I'm told is human manure after it's been through the sewage farm. Residue or something.
I thought that was banned from use on crops due to EU regulations?
Don't know. Would it be banned from use on land before the crops were planted? That's when you tend to see it, whatever it is. Or on pasture before the animals are let out.
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Human sludge was in use round here long before we left the EU. Sometimes it wasn't even pumped into rivers.
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I believe the problem with human sludge manure is concentration of heavy metals.
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<Insert some joak about leaving the EU and shitting on farmers.>
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I believe the problem with human sludge manure is concentration of heavy metals.
Other musical tastes are available...
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From elseweb:
>>Several Ukrainian refugees are staying on a farm not far from me, only short term as the accommodations are intended for seasonal farm workers and are unsuited to winter use. [no proper heating, outside toilets and showers, outside cooking, limited electricity supply]
Two women observed the size and stupidity of seagulls and wanted to know "why English people do not kill and eat them. There must be lots of meat on such large birds"
After killing and cooking a seagull they now understand why why we don't eat them.
>>I thought a seagull is a protected species?
>>Yes it is, regrettably in my view, however the refugees did not know that at the time. A child killed one with a stone. The seagulls are now doubly protected, by law and by being inedible*
*secret recipe for seagull. Remove feathers and use these to stuff a pillow for someone that you don't much like.
Place seagull in a large pot weighted down with a stone. Boil until the stone is tender, throw away the gull carcass.
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Of course, the term "seagull" is one that no ornithologist would use as there are many species.
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It seems that herring gulls are a red list species, while other species of gull are protected as are all wild birds by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/animal-deterrents/gulls/urban-gulls-and-the-law/