WILLIAMSON'S WEEKLY NATURE NOTES

They hung around hoping for titbits in the way gulls do at the seaside. We threw them each a piece of bread and they disappeared in different directions before any other gull could pinch the morsels.

They didn't come back for more so they must have been thoroughly fed-up. I'm not sure why the common gull got its name. Because it is not nearly so common as some of the other gulls.

For instance, at Fishbourne in Chichester Harbour, where the gulls all come down to have a wash and drink in the fresh water flowing out of the spring at the millpond, you will find only about 100 common gulls among one or two thousand black-headed.

Watch the gulls turning up for a feed of earthworms behind the tractors in the fields and you will again see both species but ten to one the common gulls will be outnumbered by the black-headed gulls. The common gull is different once you get your eye in. Look for a big round white head like a bald old man. The beak is sandy and the legs are a delicate shade of mud.

For full story see West Sussex Gazette September 26