Mediterranean Return 9th March 2022

Two years ago, almost to the day, I made my annual visit to West Hayling Local Nature Reserve which lies adjacent to Langstone Harbour in Hampshire and where hundreds of Mediterranean  and Black headed Gulls congregate on the disused bunds of former commercial oyster beds, prior to breeding. It should have been its usual enjoyable and fulfilling day out in the company of the gulls but the covid virus was rapidly making its way towards our shores with gloomy predictions of dire consequences. 

The gulls, as ever, were entertaining in their displaying and antics, transformed in breeding plumage to look at their very best but an underlying and undeniable sense of impending doom and fear gripped me as it did many other people, leaving me wondering where we would be at this time next year. Not in a good place that's for sure.

Covid duly arrived and the world as we know it would never be the same again or at least it felt that way. In fact it was about as bad, possibly worse than predicted for many many months. Thousands of people died, life came to an almost complete halt with lockdowns and travel restrictions which prevented me having any chance of a return to Hayling or anywhere else in the following year.

So today was a catharsis if you like, as I sought to continue the process of picking up the threads of my life, gradually trying to resume my normal existence although covid has not gone away. A visit to the gulls at Hayling on an early Spring day was to be a reclamation of one more of those habitual threads that will hopefully contribute to making my life feel as if it is moving in a positive direction.

For such a visit as this it is best to pick a day when the sun shines and the forecast predicted this would be such a day. The angelic whiteness of the Med Gulls looks at its finest when seen against a blue sky. They almost glow in the sun's radiant sealight. 

In no particular hurry, I decided to wait until after the main morning rush of traffic, before making the two hour journey to the south coast and was rewarded with an easy journey and parked in the small car park overlooking Langstone Harbour at just after ten in the morning.

The sun was shining but there was a strong wind blowing from the southwest. Fresh is best to describe it and walking out onto the exposed track around the bunds of the long defunct oyster beds it would be stronger and fresher still. I set off for the bunds, only a short walk from the car, to where the gulls congregate. I could already hear the short exclamatory yelps of  calling Med Gulls, higher in pitch and markedly different to the harsher, grating calls of the Black headed Gulls. 

As before I found a secluded position overlooking the bunds, of which only two are used by the gulls, these  being safe from human disturbance and animal predators such as foxes, due to being surrounded by the sea even at low tide. I stood on a rock strewn shoreline  below a bank, out of the wind and waited for the Med Gulls to come flying in to the colony from Chichester Harbour.This gave me the optimum chance to get the flight shots I desired as they flew into the wind.

Med Gulls are stocky and full chested, with a thick red bill, squarish and flat wings in flight, a short tail and are slightly larger than a Black headed Gull and, to my mind, in breeding plumage are one of the world's more attractive gulls, appearing in flight, in a sunlit sky or low across the sea, almost ghostly white, due to their all white flight feathers and the palest of grey upperparts. The only contrast to their ethereal whiteness being a black head, crimson bill and legs.

Mediterranean Gulls

Mediterranean Gull and Black headed Gull

Black headed Gulls

The Black headed Gulls that also frequent the bunds and will breed here later are, in comparison, less impressive, the combination of brown hooded head, darker grey upperparts, black wing tips and with bills and legs that are brownish red,  fall well short of the more striking primary colours of the Med Gulls. Incidentally most of the Med Gulls will not nest here but move slightly further into Langstone Harbour to breed, once they have found a mate.

An hour or so passed pleasantly, standing by the seashore, troubled by no one and taking far too many photos of the gulls. I had no need to feel guilty at such an innocent pleasure. I was thoroughly enjoying myself, pitting my wits and camera against the flying gulls, for it is not as simple as it sounds to photo the gulls in flight as they come in fast from the sea, calling loudly, only then to drop and swoop in the strong wind, passing you in a flash. 

Having taken my photos of the flying gulls, I spent some time taking images of their posturing on the bunds as they displayed amongst themselves, all to a background bombardment of harsh calling from the Black headed Gulls. Displaying Med Gulls take small mincing steps, puff out their chests and then slowly bow, a curious, ritualised and exaggerated movement, with bent legs, before extending their neck and head upwards and holding their wings slightly away from their body. I presume both sexes indulge in this behaviour although it is impossible to tell as both sexes look the same to me and sometimes it is not clear if the displaying bird has any particular bird in mind. 

The Med Gulls  are not short on aggression and will often greet an incoming bird with antagonism, and a brief squabble will ensue, with much wing flapping and calling but the contretemps is soon settled and the individuals involved relax. 

Two, presumably adult Med Gulls,(as there is no black on their wing tips) but a long way from completing the moult into black on their heads

This aggression is not confined to their own kind and the Black headed Gulls can also receive the same treatment if they come too close and vice versa. The Med Gulls do seem to have the pick of the prime positions on the bunds and are usually to be found on the very top or perched on the highest rock or stone to give them predominance over the Black headed Gulls, which tend to position themselves lower down or away from the Med Gulls.

There was constant displaying from the Med Gulls during my time here, so presumably the birds were still sorting out their partners for the coming breeding season. It is still early in their breeding cycle after all, although some appeared already paired, these latter often flying high to circle in the sky, calling exuberantly, reaffirming their bonding. Even airborne there would be minor skirmishes when an interloper tried its luck.

A good number of the Med Gulls had still to attain a full black hood, many showing a variable area of white where the bill meets the head and a few had  considerably more white than black on their head but this final completion of their breeding finery will be completed in the next couple of weeks or so. A similar process of ongoing moult was evident amongst the Black Headed Gulls too.

Two adult Med Gulls, the one on the left still has a long way to go to achieve a similar black hood to the one on the right

Watching a gull colony can never ever be described as dull. It is a scene of endless movement, an aural assault combined with visual chaos, a drama of colour and sound that changes second by second as birds come and go, squabble amongst themselves, display and in the case of the Black headed Gulls start forming nest hollows.

Watching a trio of Med Gulls I observed how they would stand on the bund for a short while but then one would take to the air, calling and circle round before returning. Then would come more display, perhaps a tussle with one of its fellows and then another would take to the air and repeat the performance.This went on endlessly and was mirrored further along the bunds as other birds took to the air in a similar way, so that there was a constant wheeling of crying gulls, flying high into the clear sky or sweeping low across the sea between me and the bunds. I found myself wondering if this too was part of the process of finding a mate.

It is impossible to not feel energised by the gulls, so fired up are they even when on the ground. A restlessness brought on by the rising testosterone in their bodies. It is a living wildlife programme of which David Attenborough would be proud.The longer you sit and watch the more you see and are entertained.

Amongst the adults I noticed two or three second year birds that looked to all extents like an adult except there was black on their wing tips and their heads were noticeably pale, substituting the black hood of an adult with a large shadow of grey on the rear of their head.

Mediterranean Gulls are being studied extensively and there are now ringing schemes in a number of European countries, the birds being ringed with large coloured plastic rings with bold letters and numbers on them. Each country's ringing scheme has its own particular colour for their rings. For Britain it is yellow and for Denmark or Belgium white. I saw two colour ringed adult birds during my visit, one from Britain and one from Denmark or Belgium.

Here is an adult that has been colour ringed (white) in Belgium or Denmark.

Here is an adult colour ringed (yellow) in Britain

It was first ringed at nearby Langstone Harbour on the 25th June 2018, then subsequently seen in France in 2019, Belgium in 2020 and Wales in 2021. 

And so, after some three hours, my redemption felt complete. I had woven another thread of familiarity into my life and normal service was very much being resumed on this lovely Spring day. 

Let's hope it lasts!