Chocolate dipped gulls

Gulls are a bit of a novelty for us, so we've enjoyed watching them for the last few days. By far the most common gull around here is the black-headed gull, which is a small gull that looks like it's face has been dipped in chocolate. They always look very smart and never have a feather out of place.

They're feisty little things that hang around in gangs and chase away much bigger gulls that dare to venture into their 'patch'.  They seem quite happy around people and you can get very close to them before they move away from you.

The gang have spotted something!

They seem to cope with gale force winds without any problem, always lining up facing into the wind. They can float on the wind, regardless of how strong it is, staying in the same spot. You'd think that a gale would blow them sideways, but it doesn't seem to.


Lined up facing the wind ... somebodies missing though!

The collective noun for gulls is a screech, which is very appropriate for these noisy little birds. Certainly the thousands of them that we found at the old oysterbeds were making a terrible 'screech'.



A screech of black-headed gulls

They hang around the seafront waiting for people to drop food and some people deliberately feed them. That looks a bit scary to me though!