Gull Chicks

This morning was my normal weekly visit to the sea wall in Dunbar Harbour to see how the gull chicks are progressing. What struck me today was the different stages that each gull family had reached. For instance the family on which I have been concentrating my attention who have nested right at the top of the pinnacle rock shown bottom right - these gull chicks are nearly fully fledged with an almost complete set of adult feathers (top right). Whereas for the family on the cliff face (bottom left) the chicks have only recently been hatched and are still with their furry baby feathers. The other chick (top left) is still at an in-between stage with a mixture of baby and adult feathers. What was also striking was the amount of preening the chicks do as they develop.