General Chat

I have lived in this house for 15 years and never had this problem,but this year the gulls have been a big problem..ok ,I live near the sea,but never had a nest of chicks on my dormer roof till this year.. and they have wakened me up so early on these light mornings,not just the calling,but pitter patter of feet above my bedroom at any time from 3 am onwards.

It is a big problem also in the seaside towns...so much so that the postman will not deliver in one area,and a local resort is trying to put a ban on people feeding them as they are quite dangerous and will steal food from people's hands..can be frightening for children having their ice cream taken out of their hands!

These birds are protected so once the chicks hatch you can't get rid,but if an egg is caught before it hatches that is OK.

Yesterday,I was coming out of my garage and heard one on my roof and looked down to see a chick,,quite big now,but could tell it was a chick by its colouring and it couldn't get back to the roof.The mother,obviously worried that I might harm it swooped on me.fortunately I waved my arms and it didn't attack,but it was scary.

Think I will have to get some spikes or whatever on my roof,but it won't be cheap as it goes along three bedrooms.
I have house martins nesting under the eaves,but they are fine and lovely to watch flying in and out.
:-S :-(

Anytime I go near the sea, the gulls use my car for target practise

Andy

My friend and I stayed at her van last year and to celebrate the fact that we made it there we opened a bottle of champagne on the door step, within seconds a seagull had taken the cork and loads more were there waiting for more.
Rats with wings we call them lol.

Yup a right pain, we are told they are endangered because they are declining in their traditional nesting grounds well Duh! The little beggars have all moved to be near houses and rubbish tips because it is easier pickings that fishing!

I live near the coast and they are a real problem for many residents in our area due to people feeding them.

What really peed me off was I decided to splash out on a new car (the that will see me out thing!) brought it home gleaming on Friday night, Sat morning they had been using it for target practice! :-0

One of my daughters lives in Worthing. It's bad enough the baby waking every hour or two, but the dawn 'chorus' is brain bending, and the number of times she gets the washing in - only to have to wash it again :-| :-| :-|

time was when you never saw seagulls inland :-(

We are 20+ miles ftom the sea but there are gulls on the field at the end of the garden.Occasionally they come into the garden and take food from the birdtable and they often sit on the roof. The other morning as I drove o.h. to work I saw a huge black and white gull fly off with a starling or blackbird in its beak. Horrible thing!

We have starlings nesting in the loft, they have got in behind the fascia boards which o.h. is about to have replaced. No more birds in the loft, scrabbling about.


Lizx

Our seagulls stay near the beach, or they pester people near the Fishermen's co-op! Don't sit at the tables with food, because the seagulls will swoop down and steal it. We are bothered more by kookaburras stealing food off plates if we eat outside!

We have a problem with ibis! They poop everywhere, and it stinks. Their long curved beaks are good at opening bin lids, they take what they want and leave everything else strewn about.

Don't get me started on bush turkeys! Or bats (flying foxes).

Aaaah, nature :-D

There was a newspaper article recently. A Welsh seaside town thought of fining people who fed gulls. They drop the idea as 'it might contravene' someone's religious beliefs.

My parents have/had a property on the coast. The Gulls used to pick off the mastic used on the conservatory roof and dive-bomb anyone trying to do repairs.

I am 30ish miles from the sea and have always thought the gulls only really came inland when it was bad weather and when they did they followed the M23 from Brighton and stayed in Crawley.

Now, whatever the weather, they have spread my way and use my car for target practice too :-P

I suppose I will now have physical attacks to look forward to by the young gulls in addition to the young crows in the spring time :-(

I love nature really!

Chris

cant say we really have a problem with seagulls
as i dont live near the sea but i do live close to the river thames
so i do see the odd one or two

we have more of a problem with pidgins rats and mice
and this is only becoming more of a problem because
some people keep putting out rice for them

Anyone seen the film 633 Squadron?

I'm sure the gulls have seen it and practice the same fly in low and bank, before releasing their load technique! :-D :-D

Mayfield

Let's hope they haven't seen 'The Dambusters'

Bouncing p** bombs is just one step too far :-0

Chris
:-D

Chris :-D

What do Seagulls ever do for us?

# They consume the contents of chip bags/boxes negligently discarded by moron humans.
# They devour soft slithering worms & infectious insects.
# They persuade humans to wash their cars occasionally.
# They are not frightened of humans - like humans are of them. Boo! :-P

Paranoia whipped up by the usual culprits during the summer silly season for news - tho' the Labour party is doing a silly season all of its own. Maybe HHarman will propose extermination of seagulls pursuing the seaside B&B vote.

Seagulls and other marine birds have always come far inland during the autumn ploughing season. I can remember them following the plough in eastern England 50 years ago and have photo images going back much further. What is new is year round pickings thanks to (a) littering and poor waste management and (b) the curious habit of eating out doors something I have never understood or gone in for.

If the fisheries were better managed gulls could eat their natural food as it is a really major disaster is looming/already here for all UK marine carnivores - gulls, puffins, gannets, seals, dolphins and many species of fish. Mass harvesting of the key food item, sand eels, by English and Danish farmers in order to produce pig feed for cheap nasty pork and bacon is one of the most asinine agri practices I can think of and the biggest reason for the gull "nuisance".

The messiest birds by far are pigeons.

What is the point of a gleaming car ? Will it get you there faster ? No. Is it safer ( given the windows are clean ) - no. Do car washes provide a revenue stream for possibly unauth persons - for sure. OTOH car washing is yet another great way to pollute the storm water drains with unwanted pollutants. Use the free car wash!

If seagulls would make all the grockles go away I'd be tempted to feed them myself.

There was a recent newspaper article about seagulls in Truro. Apparently the problem is so bad they are considering using paint that glares, so that the gulls have a problem landing.!!! :-D Wonder if that will work.?

Locally, we have had for two years running a pair of gulls with three young, on Lidl's roof. The young are quite big now. We see them daily when walking the dog.!
I think they get scraps from the fast food shops nearby.

USA faith leader steps into row with Conwy council over 'religious freedom' to feed seagulls
13:00, 24 JULY 2015
Daily Post......

Just read this on my online local paper.....I think the message that is getting through
is wrong...it's not that we hate these birds,but they are getting used to the wrong sort of food...and as Rollo says,people are eating more takeaways outside and careless with their litter ,so naturally they will pick up dropped food.

I had my dormers redone 2 years ago,just hope they haven't damaged them.
I too love nature,but try loving these gulls when you are wakened up at unearthly hours....and thank goodness I keep my car in the garage as the droppings do affect the paint on cars.i had to wash a lot of the mess off my porch doors yesterday.

The problem is so much worse this year that something should be done about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8COt1n3jDqA

:-)

I only live a few miles from Brenda and she is soooo right about the gulls, they are a menace.

They steal food from your hands and even your mouth. Lift lids from wheelie bins and shred any bin bags and drags out the contents.

When their chicks are about no one is safe. When my granddaughter was about two years old she was playing on our decking, in the sunshine. Down came two gulls and they went to attack her. Luckily my daughter was able to frighten them off.

It was our local Council who tried to introduce the fine for feeding the gulls but were put off in case they offended the Hindu religion.

Luckily, I understand that they have now changed their mind and the introduction of fines will come in.

Now led to understand that some "high up" of the Hindu religion in the U.S. has now entered into the argument :-|