Seagulls

[Answerprancer]

Why do they only (usually) make seagully noises when they're by the sea?
(I just heard one making seagully noises here in London - must be to do with the 'solar tsunami !)

[joggerjayne]

Oh.

This thread's not about Brighton FC then.

=0/

[Answerprancer]

Heaven forfend - no! (football? ..yeuch!)

[snags]

I spend a fair amount of time in Central London and the seagulls there make 'seagull' noises all the damn time... frequently late in to the evening...

[cazzz1975]

I see seaguls quite often in birmingham, gawd knows where they have come from but they leave a right mess all over the place

[joggerjayne]

It's a good noise.

It reminds you that we are an island, protected by the ocean from invading baddies.

And anyway ... it's what seagulls DO !

[snags]

Thanks jj... I shall sleep so much better now, knowing that the chances of me being invaded in my slumber are minimal...

[wildwood]

Is that what keeps you jogging JJ? The fear of a seagull making a deposit on your head!

That loud caw caw caw is a group calling that they can't help making when they suspect a food source. It stems from their wild instinct to call others when they spot a fish school, a single gull will just scare the fish away but a flock will put the fish into a panic and many are picked off this way.
The same call is made when they are breeding and a predator is suspected, forcing the whole group to fly up and show a united front. If you have ever been sconed by a breeding gull you'll know they are not kidding.

[smudge]

We live in South Bedfordshire (nowhere near the sea) & have noticed an influx of seagulls in the last couple of years.

I love to hear them - I close my eyes & imagine I'm in Osmington, Weymouth, Devon, Cornwall & all the other lovely English coasts we've visited.

[madmaggot]

I live within 1/2 mile of the sea and the seagulls (common) around the house rarely call, the ones down in the harbour call quite a lot though especially if a fishing boat is coming in.

[gingejbee]

Apparently they are not called "seagulls" - just "gulls". Yes, I was surprised too.

[askyourgran]

The ones in Whitby are huge and noisy. In the early hours of the morning they do the fandango on the roof and start their screeching. Property owners who have the misfortune to have a nest on their roof can pay for someone to go up to the nest and take the eggs (culling the painless way). They are noisy and dirty. I watched an American couple visiting the area absolutely drenched in gull cr&p including the camera he was aiming at it.

[Canary42]

Watch out - they'll nick your crisps

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7577577.stm?ls

[boxtops]

We can help but notice them here in Dover, they have become town-dwellers, constantly raiding our dustbins. There are a couple of persistent fellows who bang on my office window at work - I've stuck a photo of the cat looking out, and that seems to be having some effect! The "dawn bellow" seems to be about 4,30am these days....

[masma]

They're a real pest here in Gloucester, especially when they're nesting.