Nairnshire Seagull Debate

Our local Newspaper has again raised the contentious issue of what to do about the Seagull problem ?

Perhaps it would be better to re phrase that and say, what to do about the people problem ?

I have lived in the Town since 2002 and happen to live in a flat roofed house as well. One of the first things that struck me when I walked along the links and looked towards fishertown and above was the similarity to a rocky escarpment, ideal for nesting seabirds. I imagined why it might be so appealing to seagulls and tried to reason it out. The obvious of course is near the coastline and therefore food supply, mussels crabs sand eels etc. The prevailing winds during summer from the sea, ideal for fledgling gulls learning to fly, especially from a rocky escarpment, ie, the houses of Nairn. The fact that we dwell inside this rocky escarpment is an added bonus to the seagulls because of our habit of dropping morsels all over the place.

The town planners and builders too are responsible for allowing the proliferation of flat roofed buildings, extentions, dormers etc. No thought is ever given to what impact this might have on the seagull population.

The first 6 years on my flat roofed house I had one pair of nesting gulls , a neighbour tried to solve the gull problem by removing all the nests in our street. Within 3 or 4 days the gulls had replaced them all .

Having been around for probably millions of years before we arrived, the mis used saying of "Bird brain" does not really fit with my estimation of seagull intelligence.

This year I have 2 nests on my roof which is highly unusual because the resident pair never tolerated sharing my roof in the past. The same thing has happened on the adjacent garage roof.

I have also seen more territorial fights this year than I have ever seen before. All this points to a proliferation of the species, a shortage of nesting sites, and increased aggression to obtain their right to nest and reproduce. This has a knock on effect because they need more food for more young to feed and have to be more aggressive to defend their young too.

In addition to allowing the building of flat roofs, we have litter bins all over the town which are fairly easily accessed by the gulls and crows, bins are not emptied often enough and allowed to blow over when there's high winds. We have a throwaway society, and a generation that has no regard for any kind of authority which includes the the older generation and the law in general.

Passing laws are only of any use if they are enforced. As things stand the town has all kinds of signs from no drinking in public places to no feeding the gulls down at the harbour, speed limits in fishertown and elsewhere all these things ignored on a daily basis with no apparent enforcement.

In the past few days I had 4 teenagers pass by my house and drop a polystyrene takeaway container with some food and a plastic fork as well. I called to them to pick it up and they ignored me and walked off saying there was no bin ! Within seconds a seagull pounced on the remains in the carton. The following day 2 young men eating fish and chips crossing the merryton bridge started throwing chips to the gulls for a bit of entertainment.

We have to ask ourselves why do people really get so worked up about gulls ? The mess , the noise, the aggression? Not exactly a million miles from the yobs on a summers night, so who really has the bird brain ?

On the continent some of the countrys streets are so clean you could eat a meal from them.

It was noticable to me after the deluge of last week that the towns streets were the cleanest I have ever seen them!

Lots of things could be done to alleviate the percieved seagull problem, stop building and providing flat roofed areas, keep the streets clean and free from litter, have bird proof bins, educate people not to feed them within the town. Have an appropriate council team of licenced egg piercers/oilers. Educate children and enforce the law where appropriate.

I cannot see a law banning the feeding of all birds being accepted by the general population. I would say it would be unenforceable anyway. I for one would not accept that I could'nt feed my garden visitors, especially through the long 6 month winters that we have. Not to mention my beloved Swans and Ducks !

I have no problem with gulls, and the only reason they occasionally take young ducklings is because some people create a feeding frenzy either intentionally or through ignorance when the gulls take anything thats floating on the surface.

The birds are masters of the air, and we should keep our feet and common sense firmly on the ground and look up in wonder and appreciation of the beauty and joy that birds provide.