Just to remind everyone that there is still a world out there, and it is worth caring about:
Black-headed gulls are about as ordinary as borids get in the UK. If they were people, Labour would treat them with contempt. In fact, many people, even birdwatchers, do just that. They get ignored.
But they are magnificent birds. That head - which is breeding plumage - is not black at all. It is a fantastic deep brown. The legs are a great deep red, almost maroon. And the pale grey is such a great contrast.
There is no sexual dimorphism.
This one was really very close yesterday and one of many (60 plus) where I was who clearly had breeding in mind.
The ordinary is carrying on, in other words. Sometimes, I have to remind myself of that, even though politics is doing its utmost to disrupt everything.
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Beautiful, thank you.
thank you – it looks very alert – maybe watching a fish near the surface? was it as noisy as they usually are? or just ‘broody’?
Chatting, I’d say
Yes, there’s beauty in nature: focusing on it– the stars and trees helps us “keep our feet on the ground”; giving us stability
Nice!
They are fine birds. In addition to your points they are notably calmer than their larger cousins the herring and black-backed gulls (these are the ones you will hear screeching if you live in a town with a lot of gulls).
Agreed
They are amongst our favourite birds
While I was over on the East Coast, I was on a completely deserted swathe of sand and scrub. I suddenly heard skylarks, and about 30 yards in front of me, one took off. It fluttered upwards with that astonishing rapidity and slightly disjointed flapping which belies their aerobatic skill, calling at the top of its voice.
I was treated to a wonderful private flying display. The bird remained in roughly the same place just above me, noisily declaring its presence, and singing the most beautiful song I’ve heard for years. It stayed there for nearly a minute, before plunging down into the undergrowth on my left.
My mother used to describe these sudden and unexpected bursts of pure joy as “Ariadne’s threads of happiness”.
I like that
I am fortunate to live in a place where skylarks can still be seenm fairly regularly
True – it is so important to try to remain grounded and nature is a great way of doing this. My ‘nature count’ yesterday was: watching a crow collecting nesting material from my back garden; the opportunity to stop and observe two long-tailed tits in a tree in the parkland area I cross on my way to and from the shops.
Add to that checking in occasionally on the live webcam on an osprey nest at the Loch of the Lowes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5z1sVNZ0g0), where one of the adults has just returned and is rebuilding the nest, to a soundtrack of small birds and a woodpecker!
This kind of thing helps to keep a person sane – in my case, coupled with weekly walks on the North York Moors and a fab art exhibition in Carlisle on Sat.
Doesn’t change a thing outside, but it helps inside.
Long tailed tits – lovely – and highly communal birds.