Last Of The Seasons Ducklings ?

Was told about a duck with 11 ducklings last week coming out of the Cemetery burn, she has now turned up near Merryton with only 2 left.

It seems the Crows are as bad up by the Jubilee bridge as they are down here.

If you happen to see the ducklings please don't throw bread at them, 

we have dozens of gulls near the Merryton bridge and the ducklings are too small to eat bread anyway.

Perhaps this is the last of the seasons ducklings.

Wha Daur Meddle Wi Me

This weeks local paper The Nairnshire Telegraph has again headlined the subject of Gulls.This is an annual event and has been raised time and time again. I have also posted some comment on the subject of gulls over the years, and for those who are interested you can read my view on THIS LINK 

Faiths ducklings are growing along with the 4 motherless ones, enjoying the summer as long as they have ample supply of fresh water.

 They occasionally like to stay close to me in the doorway if there is any perceived threats. 

Summer weather continues unabated and there are some unusual plant growth dotted around, a particularly stunning Thistle on the riverside caught my eye. Also known as a "Wha daur meddle wi me !"

Predators 47 Ducks 0

With the nesting season halfway through, the tidal reaches of the river are proving to be disastrous for this years ducklings. So far 47 ducklings have been wiped out by the gulls and crows. The last sizeable brood of 9 were all taken within three days. People keep asking me "where are all the ducklings ? "

It is extremely depressing seeing newly hatched ducklings, taken to feed even more of these predators. Yesterday evening I saw a gull swoop down and pick up one of only two ducklings left on the lower river. I again appeal to those people who continue to feed the gulls on the river to stop doing it, creating a gull colony on the river is bad news for other species. Predation appears to stop at the gulls and crows, to the detriment of other species. The only survivors  are 7 links ducklings that I kept out of harms way in the Aviary for 3 weeks,

before putting them into the river.

Riverside Recyclers

Recycling is nothing new to people of my generation, wartime babies grew up with REAL AUSTERITY with rationing right through until 1954, we knew how to make and mend and recycle everything ! It has taken fifty years for government to start promoting recycling just to cope with the excesses of the consumer society. Nature of course has always been doing it, and our riverside is a perfect example of it today. Those of you unfamiliar with our Salmon rivers should understand that Salmon travel up river to spawn every year. Like all living things their primary purpose in life is to reproduce before they die. Many of our Atlantic Salmon make it back to the sea to continue the cycle of life. Many also die during the spawning season and are washed downstream, settling on the banks and shallow areas of the river, this happens all through the winter until around February/March. Nature's recyclers are often kept alive by this bounty, for food is scarce during winter. The Tidal area of the river is a favourite haunt of birds and other creatures, for everything in the river drifts there and is generally ice free with the daily influx of salt water. Those of us who know the river, are quite familiar with the occasional sight of black back gulls, herring gulls, mink, otters, rats, crows, weasel's foxes,cats and dogs, all sniffing around the riverside for a decayed fish or anything else that might be edible. They are the riverside natural recyclers at work, some would prefer fresh meat but anything will do in harsh times. Rodents are part of the river scene, and are of no special significance unless you have them in your house or garden as permanent residents. The recent removal of undergrowth between the Merryton and road bridge has probably forced resident rodents to move to undergrowth below the Merryton bridge. The current furore over a family of rats should not be used as a pretext for political interference in the river, or to deprive the river waterbirds of their much needed winter food supply!

Gulls, Why You Shouldn’t Feed Them.

The debate on gulls continues to roll on and on, so perhaps I can shed some new light on the gull question based on several years personal experience - dealing with gulls in some form or another. First of all we have to realise that Gulls have been around long before us, they are intelligent fast learners, and they live a long time.

They are primarily Predators but are so adaptable that they can forage anytime anywhere and are learning new skills all the time. Watching gulls drumming the ground to bring worms to the surface is now quite common whereas some years ago this would have been a rare event. Something that struck me some time ago was their instant attraction to anything white, and I wondered why the attraction was so strong. All gulls are predominantly white themselves, presumably it's easier to see each other at great distances over the sea perhaps. When some find a shoal of fish for instance others can see them and quickly join the feast. Their attraction to white is even more marked in Town where they are continually faced with white carrier bags, white polystyrene fast food containers, and white fish and chip papers. Then there is the human bounty of white bread providers, quite simply white means food ! 

Having cared for quite a few young injured gulls over the years, and observed adults and their offspring at length, I copied the adults feeding routine on the young injured gulls before releasing them back to the wild. The adults deliberately reduce the amount of food they give their young in order to wean them and make them self sufficient predators. We have all seen the young gulls walking behind the parents, head bowed and peeping constantly for food. The parents have a crop full of food but they refuse to give in, except when needed to keep their offspring alive. This strategy is for the good of the offspring and their future survival, and forces them to the seashore to join flocks that will hunt and scavenge shellfish, molluscs, eels, etc.

Misguided townies who think the birds are starving because they are always on the scrounge are doing the seagulls no favours by throwing them food. They are in effect creating townie seagulls who are unlikely to head to the seashore when they are being fed by benefactors. These gulls then become the long lived pests that will resort to snatching sandwiches or chips from children or adults, and end up being the scourge that empty litter bins and dive bomb you, making the newspaper headlines.

I have made quite a few enemies over the years, by trying to educate people into what not to do regarding feeding the gulls on the riverside. They are creating gull colonies that would normally be fishing the seashore, they put the lives of young ducklings at risk, because a feeding frenzy means that gulls will take everything that floats in the vicinity.

 They also deprive people trying to feed the ducks and swans because they move away when bombarded by marauding gulls. People innocently and naively carry a white carrier bag to feed the ducks, in effect the carrier bag is a flag to the gulls to come and get it!

Gulls are intelligent and only need fed once or twice to remember you, so remember  feed them at your peril, because you will never get peace to feed the ducks or swans in future.

For all the talk amongst the powers that be, there are still no decent sized signs placed strategically around the Town warning people NOT TO FEED THE GULLS.

 The bins are still allowed to overflow and give easy access to the gulls. Personally, we should start exercising a bit of control over our own species - before we start killing another !