Swoop!

The gulls are back in force, circling above the park. The white cloudy skies are back too. In the past couple of years we've had a rogue gull on our street, attacking everyone who dares to walk past the three storey house he's nesting on top of - it's not like we're going to be much of a threat to him up there!

Last year he learned a new trick, a sharp banked 180 degree turn that greatly improved his attack. My boyfriend said to me that someone was going to kill him one day, he was really violent and terrorised a lot of the old people on the street because they walked more slowly. He disappeared a few weeks early last year and there's been no sign of him since, so maybe someone did whack him with something! We do have a gull this year but it's very placid, and I don't think birds have sudden personality changes like that...

But despite ASBO gull, I still love them, I think they're quite beautiful. It's not overly clear from this photo but from others I took it looks like this is gull has yellow legs, so it's not a herring gull (pink legs) as I first thought. Maybe a lesser black-backed gull? I don't have my bird book to check the markings so if you have an ID let me know :)




PS: I've backblipped back to last Thursday (I know, I've been so lazy), check them out if you're interested!