Mediterraneans at Hayling Island 19th March 2026

I left Greenham Common (see my previous blog) around 10am having successfully encountered a Dartford Warbler and rather than return home, buoyed by my success I decided to make a day of it and drive further south, all the way to Hayling Island on the coast of Hampshire.

It is a pilgrimage I make most years in March, to enjoy another of nature's spectacles, this one centred on the long defunct Hayling Oyster Beds, of which only the bunds remain, separated from the land by a narrow channel of sea which provides security from human or animal interference for a large concentration of gulls . In 1996 Havant Borough Council to their immense credit designated the bunds as a local nature reserve that is now managed by the RSPB. 

For a brief period in early Spring the bunds are thronged with hundreds of both Mediterranean and Black headed Gulls, the former congregating to display and form pairs, before moving into nearby Langstone Harbour to breed whereas the Black headed Gulls will remain to nest on the bunds which attract birders and public alike to enjoy the sound and spectacle of a gull colony in its full exuberant flow.

Mediterranean Gulls

Most of the noise it has to be said comes from the Black headed Gulls, forever squawking and complaining, creating an endless background of harsh sound which although tuneless to our ears somehow feels an  appropriate adjunct to the birds breeding frenzy. The Med Gulls punctuate the wall of sound with overriding yelping, exclamatory 'meow' cries making them sound as if constantly surprised.

Hayling Oyster Beds and its congregation of gulls holds many memories for me, perhaps the most poignant being the time I went at a period of great fear and uncertainty as the country awaited the arrival of  the covid virus that was sweeping inexorably in our direction from China and no one knew what was going to happen but were left in no doubt it was going to be very bad and our human world would turn upside down and never be the same again.see here

I remember driving to Hayling listening to the early morning news just before covid arrived on our shores and a feeling of dread and anxiety enveloping me as I headed for possibly the last time to Hayling Oyster Beds to enjoy the beauty of the gull colony not knowing when if ever I would see this or any other such sight again. It was a time, as I said, of great fear and uncertainty but sitting on a bank of grass in the sun later that morning and watching the annual ritual of the gulls going through their unchanging routine brought a sense of stability to my scrambled brain and I felt able to face whatever was coming with fortitude.

Today, five years hence was thankfully different, although now the horrors and madness of war in The Middle East, driven by an indicted war criminal in Israel and a disgrace of humankind sitting in The White House was another cause for anxiety. From my covid experience I knew that the Med Gulls would again be my salvation and calm my concerns.

The weather was nigh on perfect, sun, blue sky and a gentle breeze from the north east. Arriving at the tiny car park I found it predictably full on such a pleasant sunny late morning but after a short wait a space was relinquished and I parked my car.The sea and sky were almost as one in blueness as I took the track out to the bunds. As I reached the colony a shock of sound hit me amid a forever moving flurry of white above and around the bunds as gulls flew back and fore or stood on the rocks or gravel. 

A scene of ceaseless, constantly changing activity was before me as gulls came and went, fought and bickered, displayed to potential mates or settled on the water as if to take a break from the freneticism on the bunds.You could easily sit here and never be bored as the movement and noise was an unending play that had no beginning or conclusion. And all for free!

The display of the Med Gulls, mainly enacted by the males involves much bowing and ritualistic posturing, the poses exaggeratedly slow and deliberate and forever entertaining.

Some of the Med Gulls have coloured plastic rings attached to their legs from various European study schemes.Today there was at least one with such a ring and an inscription EA03 that indicated it had been ringed in Belgium.

The original ringer sent me details of the gull's history - see below

It was ringed as an adult on the 19th of May 2025 at PuttenWest,Kieldrecht,Beveren,Oost-Vlaanderen, in Flanders, Belgium. It was then seen from the 22nd of August to the 13th of November 2025  on various beaches in Finistere, Brittany, France before I recorded it at Hayling Oyster Beds on the 19th of March 2026.

I sat on the grass by the sea as a deep contentment settled over me, looked over to the bunds and took as many images as I felt happy with, chiefly of the Med Gulls. 

Call me biased if you wish but in their breeding plumage they are for me one of the most beautiful gulls in the world and apart from all black heads and crimson bills, look angelic, almost ethereal in an overall white plumage and palest of grey backs, flying against the blue green of the sea or cobalt blue of the sky.

For two hours I enjoyed, nay revelled in this spectacle. An annual re-affirmation and confirmation if needed that despite the current awfulness of our human world and all the worry and concern it engenders, here at Hayling was the ideal antidote in the knowledge that whatever may happen, the natural world will continue regardless, whereas we may not and I take great comfort in that.