Gulls are ace
While they’re a nuisance to some, to others, gulls are “ace”. Not least to Dave Paynter, reserve manager at Slimbridge and one of WWT’s longest serving members of staff.
As MPs rail, on behalf of desperate residents, for something to be done although they’re not clear what, about “seagulls” defecating, dive bombing and waking them too early, a gleam comes to Dave’s eye in anticipation of the noisy colourful gull roost at WWT HQ each year.
All five regular UK species overwinter on the Severn Estuary including herring and common gulls both of which are in decline.
Rarer glaucous, Iceland and yellow-legged gulls can also be among visitors having flown from the Arctic and south-west Europe. Yellow-legged gulls have only recently been recognised as a species in their own right and used to be thought of as herring gulls.
“People rock on about so-called seagulls making a mess but here our flock can number 100,000 birds – that’s phenomenal,” Dave says. Few UK gull roosts are bigger.
Gulls create a dashing spectacle although the Slimbridge birds are less easy to appreciate because they don’t arrive until dusk and don’t swarm and swirl like starlings.
Dave is not deterred: “The thing about gulls is that we take them for granted, we don’t think of them as a proper wild animal.
“They’re genuine migrants and the UK is very important for them because of our long coastline, food-rich seas and temperate climate.”
