Tits And Gulls
May. 25th, 2023 07:58 am We had a blue tit in the garden the other day. Back on the farm the blue tits were constantly at the feeders, but this was the first I've seen down here. When we moved to Eastbourne the garden was mostly lawn, but we've considerably increased the bushiness- and that attracts the smaller birds.
I'm reading a book about gulls. The author- Marianne Taylor- grew up in Hastings, just up the coast from here- and she loves gulls even more than I do. It's a pleasant, easy-going book with lots of facts squeezed in among the anecdotes. When she was a kid she compared the brain of a gull to that of a crow by pouring millet seed into a couple of empty skulls- and found the crow had room for a lot more grey matter. This surprised her- as it surprises me- because if gulls are thick they don't show it. There are six varieties of gull that breed in the UK. The ones that soar and strut over our little patch are all herring gulls...
I'm reading a book about gulls. The author- Marianne Taylor- grew up in Hastings, just up the coast from here- and she loves gulls even more than I do. It's a pleasant, easy-going book with lots of facts squeezed in among the anecdotes. When she was a kid she compared the brain of a gull to that of a crow by pouring millet seed into a couple of empty skulls- and found the crow had room for a lot more grey matter. This surprised her- as it surprises me- because if gulls are thick they don't show it. There are six varieties of gull that breed in the UK. The ones that soar and strut over our little patch are all herring gulls...
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Date: 2023-05-25 07:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 07:29 am (UTC)But, yes, there's not much they won't eat. Taylor writes about a gull who hangs out in Regents Park, stalks pigeons, drags them into the pond, drowns them and then tears them to bits.
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Date: 2023-05-25 09:14 am (UTC)Less gulls obviously, although they do sometimes turn up- black headed are the ones we see most of.
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Date: 2023-05-25 01:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-05-25 08:03 pm (UTC)Black headed gulls can be seen down on the beach, but they don't choose to come inland.
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Date: 2023-05-25 08:04 pm (UTC)I rather admire them for their feistiness.