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GENERIC: It happened so quickly.
It swoops down and literally

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takes the scoop of ice cream off
the top and just flies away with

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ice cream in its mouth.

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And I'm terrified.

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All of a sudden, this huge
scream went up and we turned

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around and she just looked
absolutely horrified and was

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shouting, the seagull stole my
ice cream.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: It's a
familiar scene at a British

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seaside town. You're stopping
for a snack when you have your

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treat pinched by a precocious
gull.

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Seagulls are getting bigger,
badder and more of a pest. Or so

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we are led to believe.

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But are we missing the point
about seagulls? Could their

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behaviour reflect higher
intelligence and

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resourcefulness?

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Traits to be admired rather than
maligned?

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00:01:34,173 --> 00:01:37,195
We're heading to Poole Harbour
on England's south-west coast to

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uncover the truth about
seagulls.

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00:01:39,984 --> 00:01:42,406
Love them or hate them, you're
in for some surprises.

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00:01:43,447 --> 00:01:46,570
Hello, I'm Ranger Rosie
Holdsworth. If you're a National

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00:01:46,590 --> 00:01:49,252
Trust podcast listener, you've
probably noticed that we look a

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bit different.

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00:01:51,154 --> 00:01:54,797
We've changed to bring you even
more immersive stories in nature

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00:01:54,797 --> 00:01:58,520
and history. Head to our new
podcast, Back When, for hidden

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00:01:58,581 --> 00:02:02,564
histories and tales from time.
But stay here for nature

26
00:02:02,584 --> 00:02:03,145
mysteries.

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00:02:03,725 --> 00:02:06,888
Welcome to Wild Tales, Gangster
Gulls.

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So no trip to the seaside is
complete without a fish and chip

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shop stop and I can see along
this lovely parade of shops here

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there's a bright and breezy
looking chip shop ready to go.

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Hello, how are we doing? Great,
thank you. Could we have two

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bags of chips please? Thank you.

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Do you have much bother with
seagulls?

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GENERIC: Yes, usually swoop down
from the ledge above and take

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the whole tray, food, chips and
fish.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Well,
hopefully the chips will tempt

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them in because that's what
we're here to see today.

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GENERIC: If you throw them
about, they'll be here in

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00:02:44,224 --> 00:02:44,664
seconds.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Thanks very
much.

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00:02:47,986 --> 00:02:51,929
As a countryside manager in West
Yorkshire, my usual haunts are

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00:02:52,149 --> 00:02:55,391
blasted moorlands and wooded
valleys. So to come down to the

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00:02:55,411 --> 00:02:57,913
south coast is a real rare treat
for me.

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And as we stand here on the side
of the quay, I can see to my

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00:03:02,216 --> 00:03:05,658
right hand side some very
industrial looking docks. And by

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00:03:05,798 --> 00:03:09,300
sharp contrast on the left,
there's some really expensive

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00:03:09,340 --> 00:03:12,821
looking yachts and a cormorant
just popped up in front of us

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here in the bay.

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00:03:14,582 --> 00:03:17,843
Perching on some of those yachts
with their beady eyes fixed

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00:03:17,883 --> 00:03:22,744
keenly on me are several hungry
looking seagulls but I can see

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over here someone else looking
hungry and I think it must be

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00:03:26,525 --> 00:03:29,526
Mya Bambrick who I'm hoping is
going to teach me a thing or two

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about gulls.

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00:03:31,487 --> 00:03:34,288
Hi Mya I hope you're hungry I've
brought you some chips.

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MYA BAMBRICK: Hiya thank you
very much.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: I have to
confess, I'm a bit of a seagull

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00:03:38,265 --> 00:03:41,786
agnostic, so I'm hoping you can
tell me some things that might

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00:03:41,826 --> 00:03:42,386
convert me.

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00:03:42,806 --> 00:03:44,086
MYA BAMBRICK: I'll try my very
best.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: So Mya, you're
an ornithologist. Where does

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00:03:47,247 --> 00:03:48,948
that interest in birds come
from?

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00:03:49,508 --> 00:03:52,789
MYA BAMBRICK: I grew up in
Crawley in Sussex. I happened to

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watch Springwatch on the telly
one day, and I was absolutely

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entranced in some of the
wildlife you could see here in

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the UK.

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So I managed to persuade my mum
to take me to my local nature

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reserve. From then on, every
weekend, I was in the bird

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hides.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: You've
continued that interest and

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you're a youth representative
for the British Trust For

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Ornithology, is that right?

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00:04:12,358 --> 00:04:14,499
MYA BAMBRICK: Yeah, that's
right. So trying to get as many

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young people interested with
birds, with wildlife, with

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citizen science.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: As well as
being in her final year at

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00:04:21,664 --> 00:04:25,686
university, Mya also works for
Birds Of Poole Harbour, helping

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to engage the public with the
incredible wildlife here.

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00:04:29,472 --> 00:04:32,694
That brings us neatly on to
seagulls. Oh, that's a misnomer,

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isn't it? I shouldn't call them
seagulls.

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00:04:34,796 --> 00:04:36,797
MYA BAMBRICK: We always say
there's no such thing as a

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seagull. So there are many
different gull species here in

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the UK.

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00:04:40,740 --> 00:04:45,223
In Poole Harbour, we have sort
of six main common gull species.

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00:04:45,283 --> 00:04:48,265
So we've got one right behind us
at the moment. But this is a

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00:04:48,305 --> 00:04:49,086
herring gull.

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00:04:49,626 --> 00:04:51,407
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Am I right in
thinking that they're the guys

87
00:04:51,427 --> 00:04:53,669
who get all of the gulls a bit
of a bad rap?

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00:04:53,949 --> 00:04:56,891
MYA BAMBRICK: It is indeed. So
this is the classic seagull, as

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00:04:56,911 --> 00:05:00,309
much as I don't like to say it.
This one here is an adult. You

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00:05:00,309 --> 00:05:04,520
can see it's got a lovely grey
back, white underneath. It's got

91
00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:08,914
that quite big, large yellow
bill with a red dot on it which

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00:05:08,934 --> 00:05:10,415
is classic of a herring gull.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: The red dot on
the beak is a very important

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00:05:13,337 --> 00:05:17,240
part of some gulls' physical
makeup as Dr Viola Ross-Smith

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00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:19,081
from the BTO explains.

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DR VIOLA ROSS-SMITH: They're
actually fantastic, fascinating

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00:05:21,923 --> 00:05:25,865
birds to watch. Nico Timbergen,
the famous Dutch scientist, got

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00:05:25,865 --> 00:05:29,288
a Nobel Prize in 1973 for his
studies on the behaviour of

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00:05:29,308 --> 00:05:29,928
herring gulls.

100
00:05:30,068 --> 00:05:32,870
So one of the things he
discovered was that herring

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00:05:32,890 --> 00:05:36,873
gulls have got a red spot on
their beak and chicks peck at

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their red spots when they first
hatch to make parents

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00:05:39,994 --> 00:05:41,035
regurgitate food.

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00:05:41,495 --> 00:05:43,416
It's not just herring gulls that
do this. All the large

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00:05:43,456 --> 00:05:45,597
white-headed gulls have the same
red spot on the beak.

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00:05:45,958 --> 00:05:47,959
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: So not just a
random marking, but an

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00:05:48,059 --> 00:05:49,079
evolutionary tool.

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00:05:50,500 --> 00:05:52,901
MYA BAMBRICK: You can see it's
also got those grey streaks on

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the head.

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00:05:53,562 --> 00:05:53,762
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Yep.

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00:05:54,062 --> 00:05:56,844
MYA BAMBRICK: So that's adult
winter plumage. So the younger

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00:05:56,884 --> 00:06:01,306
birds will look brown, streaky.
But you can see there's actually

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00:06:01,486 --> 00:06:05,468
one just behind it. And this
here is probably the youngster

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of this adult.

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00:06:06,709 --> 00:06:07,790
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Ah right!

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And those chicks can be quite
demanding at times.

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MYA BAMBRICK: So they'll
actually chase the adults around

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00:06:15,834 --> 00:06:19,036
up until they have their next
clutch in the spring.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Wow.

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00:06:20,117 --> 00:06:21,838
MYA BAMBRICK: As we've been
walking, I can hear some of the

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00:06:21,978 --> 00:06:24,960
food begging calls from the
herring gulls and that's because

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00:06:24,980 --> 00:06:26,621
they're still chasing the
parents around.

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00:06:27,121 --> 00:06:29,222
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Speaking of
food, herring gulls have some

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ingenious ways of getting a
tasty morsel or two.

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00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:35,323
MYA BAMBRICK: They'll rise up in
the air, drop shellfish down

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00:06:35,363 --> 00:06:38,846
onto the ground and then swoop
down so then it's broken open.

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And they'll keep doing that.
They'll be persistent until it's

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actually cracked open.

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You know, herring gulls will do
it, carrion crows, greater black

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back gulls.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: And if you
think that's impressive...

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MYA BAMBRICK: You might
sometimes be able to see herring

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gulls doing a little dance. So
they kind of pat their feet onto

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the grass.

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00:06:57,104 --> 00:07:00,525
And what they're trying to do is
charm the worms to replicate

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rain. Sound of rain. And then
you'll see them plucking a worm

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out of the grass.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Nice!

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00:07:06,327 --> 00:07:10,628
MYA BAMBRICK: They will scavenge
for chips and things, but they

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have such a bad rep. And what's
really important is learn about

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their ecology. Then we get more
understanding of why they're

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doing that. Yeah.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: It sounds like
they're quite intelligent birds

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then, and they're basically
opportunists, and the

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opportunity is humans with chips
and shellfish lying around.

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Love them or hate them, herring
gulls are facing some serious

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challenges, as Dr Viola
Ross-Smith explains.

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DR VIOLA ROSS-SMITH: They're a
bit of a marmite species. Some

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people love them, I love them.
But a lot of people really

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dislike them, particularly in
the summer, when you've got the

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kind of classic summer headlines
about gulls taking over.

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You know, eating your
chihuahuas, they're going to be

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00:07:50,432 --> 00:07:53,234
coming for your children next,
that kind of thing. That's the

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herring gull that is typically
being demonised.

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They're not going to eat your
children. They're actually a

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red-listed seabird. They're on
the Birds Of Conservation red

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list. They have been since 2009
because of population declines.

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So they might seem like they're
taking over, but they're

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00:08:07,354 --> 00:08:09,876
actually not. Part of the
reason, I think, for the

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00:08:09,896 --> 00:08:13,139
misconception is because they're
strong holders in urban areas.

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00:08:13,580 --> 00:08:15,982
They're doing pretty well
nesting on urban rooftops,

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00:08:16,382 --> 00:08:18,524
partly because there aren't so
many predators in places like

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00:08:18,524 --> 00:08:20,946
that, and they can get
predictable year-round food from

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00:08:20,946 --> 00:08:22,728
the rubbish we drop, for
example.

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But in the wider countryside,
their numbers are not doing well

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at all. The most recent seabird
census, which was published in

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November 2023, showed really
stark declines for herring gulls

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across the country.

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I think we need to learn to love
herring gulls and live alongside

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them because we're in a
biodiversity crisis and if a big

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strong adaptable species like
the herring gull isn't doing

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very well, then what does that
say about the prospects for more

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fragile species?

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Now that I
know a bit more about herring

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00:08:50,517 --> 00:08:53,560
gulls, I'm keen to discover what
other species are around.

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We've wandered a little bit
further along the quay. I can

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see the old lifeboat house and
the lifeboat museum here.

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00:09:01,485 --> 00:09:04,568
There's some lobster pots piled
up on the quay. The cormorants

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00:09:04,648 --> 00:09:07,069
followed us and we're into some
of the fishing boats in the

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00:09:07,089 --> 00:09:10,492
harbour here. And perched on the
rooftop of the museum, Mya

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00:09:10,572 --> 00:09:12,934
points out two very different
looking gulls.

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MYA BAMBRICK: So we've got on
the left hand side is a herring

183
00:09:15,516 --> 00:09:19,326
gull. And on the right-hand
side, we've got a much smaller

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00:09:19,767 --> 00:09:20,608
species of gull.

185
00:09:21,068 --> 00:09:24,971
It's got a grey back, white
underside, dark red legs and a

186
00:09:25,031 --> 00:09:28,734
dark red bill. And that there is
a black-headed gull.

187
00:09:29,255 --> 00:09:30,516
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Why is it
called a black-headed gull?

188
00:09:30,516 --> 00:09:32,818
Because that guy's definitely
not got a black head.

189
00:09:33,058 --> 00:09:36,201
MYA BAMBRICK: So first of all,
this bird is in winter plumage.

190
00:09:36,241 --> 00:09:36,501
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Right.

191
00:09:36,821 --> 00:09:38,883
MYA BAMBRICK: It just has what
we call earmuffs, so little

192
00:09:38,943 --> 00:09:43,367
black marks behind the eye.
Whereas in the summer, when

193
00:09:43,387 --> 00:09:46,093
they're in their breeding
plumage, They actually have a

194
00:09:46,113 --> 00:09:47,654
brown hood on their head.

195
00:09:47,914 --> 00:09:49,976
So even in the summer, they
don't have a black head.

196
00:09:50,236 --> 00:09:51,137
Oh, helpful.

197
00:09:51,397 --> 00:09:53,259
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: But they're a
much smaller, daintier looking

198
00:09:53,299 --> 00:09:53,799
gull, aren't they?

199
00:09:53,999 --> 00:09:56,261
MYA BAMBRICK: Well, they're one
of our smallest species of gull.

200
00:09:56,842 --> 00:09:58,463
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Are they going
to bother me for my chips?

201
00:09:58,683 --> 00:10:01,666
MYA BAMBRICK: Yeah, so they also
are quite generalist feeders.

202
00:10:01,826 --> 00:10:05,669
So you will see them come down,
maybe not to steal your chips,

203
00:10:05,949 --> 00:10:08,412
but definitely make the most of
any that are discarded on the

204
00:10:08,432 --> 00:10:08,892
ground.

205
00:10:09,272 --> 00:10:11,814
But also they'll be chasing
after fishing boats as well in

206
00:10:11,794 --> 00:10:15,840
the harbour. So very much,
again, opportunists as most gull

207
00:10:15,900 --> 00:10:16,520
species are.

208
00:10:18,041 --> 00:10:20,061
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: As we make our
way along the quay towards

209
00:10:20,121 --> 00:10:23,742
Baiter Park for some more gull
spotting, an unexpected visitor

210
00:10:23,822 --> 00:10:24,282
appears.

211
00:10:25,083 --> 00:10:25,503
MYA BAMBRICK: Kingfisher!

212
00:10:25,503 --> 00:10:26,023
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Kingfisher!

213
00:10:26,203 --> 00:10:29,404
Oh, wow. Yeah, there he goes.
Zoom!

214
00:10:29,604 --> 00:10:29,804
MYA BAMBRICK: Yeah!

215
00:10:30,184 --> 00:10:33,425
But this is the best place in
the winter to see kingfishers in

216
00:10:33,445 --> 00:10:36,666
Poole Harbour. Along these rocks
as well, you can often scan

217
00:10:36,706 --> 00:10:41,775
along and there'll be Cormorant,
Shag. Sometimes there'll be

218
00:10:41,775 --> 00:10:45,556
waders as well, like Oyster
Catcher, Dunlin, Ring Plover.

219
00:10:45,576 --> 00:10:47,357
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Right, there's
always something to see.

220
00:10:47,477 --> 00:10:50,518
MYA BAMBRICK: Yeah, even in such
an urban area like this, it's

221
00:10:50,578 --> 00:10:52,218
still so important for birds.

222
00:10:52,298 --> 00:10:52,478
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Yeah.

223
00:10:52,859 --> 00:10:55,000
We pause as Maya hands me her
binoculars. She's spotted

224
00:10:56,060 --> 00:10:57,240
something in the distance.

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MYA BAMBRICK: See over there,
just towards Baiter Park, you've

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00:11:00,561 --> 00:11:02,121
got a line of gulls.

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00:11:02,341 --> 00:11:04,882
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Yeah. Sitting
beautifully on top of the goal

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00:11:05,042 --> 00:11:07,423
posts. Yeah. So what are we
looking at there?

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00:11:07,783 --> 00:11:10,545
MYA BAMBRICK: So these are all
black-headed gulls.

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00:11:11,265 --> 00:11:12,946
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Yeah, they
really vary actually, don't

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00:11:12,946 --> 00:11:16,568
they? Some of them have almost
got a full kind of hat on and

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00:11:16,648 --> 00:11:17,808
some of them have just got the
earmuff.

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00:11:18,089 --> 00:11:19,950
MYA BAMBRICK: Exactly, so that's
why if you're trying to get into

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00:11:20,030 --> 00:11:23,051
gulls, it's also important to
learn the differences in

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00:11:23,091 --> 00:11:26,393
plumage. So what's their winter
plumage, what's their breeding

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00:11:26,433 --> 00:11:26,913
plumage?

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00:11:27,053 --> 00:11:28,554
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Yeah, I hadn't
realised how much they'd vary

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00:11:28,854 --> 00:11:29,835
just between individuals.

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00:11:30,235 --> 00:11:32,316
MYA BAMBRICK: So I've been
scanning along these flocks of

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00:11:32,356 --> 00:11:36,078
black-headed gulls to see if
there are any what we call med

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00:11:36,178 --> 00:11:41,076
gulls for short. And there are.
So they look quite similar, but

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00:11:41,356 --> 00:11:44,377
they kind of lack any black on
the wings.

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00:11:44,457 --> 00:11:45,997
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: They're very
smart looking, aren't they?

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00:11:46,017 --> 00:11:47,778
MYA BAMBRICK: Yeah. So we call
them white wingers.

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00:11:48,098 --> 00:11:48,858
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Oh, very nice.

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00:11:48,858 --> 00:11:50,659
MYA BAMBRICK: So you can see
it's got a bit of a chunkier

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00:11:50,719 --> 00:11:54,240
build on black-headed gull, much
brighter red. Yeah. And also

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00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:55,760
kind of a black mask.

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00:11:56,300 --> 00:12:00,461
When I was younger, one of my
first memories of gulls was when

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00:12:00,501 --> 00:12:03,582
I was birding at Packham Harbour
in Sussex. And I didn't know

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00:12:03,582 --> 00:12:05,763
what it was until I got my
scope, had a look.

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00:12:06,083 --> 00:12:09,724
And it had this amazing, you
know, bright red bill, bright

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00:12:09,804 --> 00:12:12,325
red legs. And I just thought it
was absolutely stunning.

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00:12:12,345 --> 00:12:16,046
I didn't realise gulls could be
that kind of colourful and

255
00:12:16,106 --> 00:12:18,907
striking. Not that there's
anything wrong with a lovely,

256
00:12:19,267 --> 00:12:22,568
immature herring gull, but as
sort of a beginner birder, that

257
00:12:22,688 --> 00:12:23,828
really stood out to me.

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00:12:24,288 --> 00:12:25,828
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: I had not seen
them before, so it's a really

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00:12:25,868 --> 00:12:27,549
nice treat to see Mediterranean
gulls.

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00:12:27,989 --> 00:12:30,850
MYA BAMBRICK: We've got about
300 breeding pairs of

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00:12:30,870 --> 00:12:34,071
Mediterranean gull. And that,
again, goes towards that

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00:12:34,111 --> 00:12:37,412
designation of Poole Harbour
being an SPA, a special

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00:12:37,433 --> 00:12:38,293
protection area.

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00:12:38,773 --> 00:12:42,116
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Pool Harbour
was classified as an SPA in 1999

265
00:12:42,116 --> 00:12:45,698
to safeguard its important bird
populations, including rare,

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00:12:45,878 --> 00:12:49,901
vulnerable and migratory
species. However, despite this

267
00:12:49,941 --> 00:12:52,663
protection, gulls still face
many challenges.

268
00:12:52,983 --> 00:12:54,924
MYA BAMBRICK: Because they're a
ground-nesting bird, they're

269
00:12:54,945 --> 00:12:59,087
quite at risk from a number of
species, carrion crow, raven,

270
00:12:59,267 --> 00:13:03,610
foxes, badgers, even other
gulls, so greater black-backed

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00:13:03,650 --> 00:13:06,837
gulls. You know, the second
largest gull in the world will

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00:13:07,157 --> 00:13:08,779
predate eggs, chicks.

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00:13:09,179 --> 00:13:10,900
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Despite the
perception that gulls are

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00:13:10,900 --> 00:13:14,463
abundant, all of our so-called
common gull species are either

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00:13:14,743 --> 00:13:18,487
amber or red listed. This
includes all the species we've

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00:13:18,487 --> 00:13:19,227
spotted today.

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00:13:19,507 --> 00:13:21,829
MYA BAMBRICK: As well as climate
change impacting food

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00:13:21,849 --> 00:13:25,973
availability, the lack of
fishing disregards the closing

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00:13:26,313 --> 00:13:30,877
of landfill sites and also a
lack of nesting opportunities.

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00:13:31,437 --> 00:13:34,779
So it's not a particularly good
outlook and which is why it's so

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00:13:34,879 --> 00:13:36,400
important that we survey them.

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00:13:39,201 --> 00:13:41,262
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Later this
afternoon, Mya and a team of

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00:13:41,302 --> 00:13:45,024
volunteers will take part in a
winter gull survey, a citizen

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00:13:45,104 --> 00:13:46,584
science project for the BTO.

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00:13:47,465 --> 00:13:51,086
This survey only happens once
every 10 years and is said to be

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00:13:51,146 --> 00:13:55,628
quite a spectacle. And the best
part, Maya has asked me to take

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00:13:55,648 --> 00:13:55,988
part.

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00:13:56,528 --> 00:13:59,029
MYA BAMBRICK: We're going to be
meeting up at dusk to count the

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00:13:59,089 --> 00:14:01,250
gulls coming into roost. Oh,
fantastic.

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00:14:01,310 --> 00:14:02,491
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Yeah, I will
be there.

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00:14:04,483 --> 00:14:06,685
EMMA CAULFIELD: My name is Emma
Caulfield and I'm a research

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00:14:06,705 --> 00:14:09,026
ecologist at the British Trust
For Ornithology.

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00:14:09,607 --> 00:14:14,830
We are a citizen science-led
research organisation. The

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00:14:14,850 --> 00:14:21,735
winter gull Survey began in 1953
to survey and produce population

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00:14:21,815 --> 00:14:24,797
estimates for our wintering
population of gulls here in the

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00:14:24,857 --> 00:14:25,017
UK.

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00:14:26,058 --> 00:14:30,501
So the winter gulls survey is
taking advantage of a behaviour

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00:14:30,601 --> 00:14:35,099
called roosting. Essentially,
during the sunset. You might see

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00:14:35,119 --> 00:14:38,821
them flying overhead in lines of
a couple of hundred coming off

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00:14:39,022 --> 00:14:41,723
pig fields or any other kind of
feeding areas.

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00:14:41,963 --> 00:14:45,845
And they'll travel to larger
water bodies. And they're just a

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00:14:45,865 --> 00:14:46,645
wonder to watch.

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00:14:46,866 --> 00:14:51,288
Multiple thousands of gulls will
arrive onto this unassuming

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00:14:51,328 --> 00:14:54,690
water body. And suddenly it's a
flurry of gull activity and

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00:14:54,910 --> 00:14:56,851
squawking and pecking and all
the rest.

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00:15:00,079 --> 00:15:02,040
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Just a few
hours ago we were down right in

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00:15:02,020 --> 00:15:05,042
the centre of the town in a very
busy urban environment and we've

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00:15:05,082 --> 00:15:08,844
come probably only a couple of
miles out here to Ham Common and

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00:15:08,844 --> 00:15:11,766
it's a beautiful heathland.
We've got the sun setting behind

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00:15:11,826 --> 00:15:11,986
us.

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00:15:12,602 --> 00:15:15,543
And right on cue, here's Mya,
and she's got someone else for

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00:15:15,583 --> 00:15:16,164
me to meet.

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00:15:16,864 --> 00:15:18,484
Hello, Paul. Really nice to meet
you.

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00:15:18,645 --> 00:15:18,825
PAUL MORTON: Hello.

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00:15:19,425 --> 00:15:21,666
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Paul is one of
the co-founders of Birds Of

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00:15:21,686 --> 00:15:24,947
Poole Harbour, a small charity
that helps connect people with

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00:15:24,947 --> 00:15:26,728
the diverse bird life in the
area.

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00:15:27,808 --> 00:15:29,449
PAUL MORTON: A bit of work, I
think most people know us for,

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00:15:29,449 --> 00:15:33,150
is the osprey reintroduction,
which we started in 2017. And

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00:15:33,170 --> 00:15:35,531
now in this landscape just here,
we've got breeding ospreys,

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00:15:35,551 --> 00:15:38,012
which is the first in southern
England for 200 years.

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00:15:38,452 --> 00:15:41,314
So we're small, but we're very,
very active and quite

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00:15:41,394 --> 00:15:42,194
passionate, I guess.

324
00:15:42,314 --> 00:15:43,955
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Can you tell
us what we're here to do?

325
00:15:44,575 --> 00:15:46,276
PAUL MORTON: This evening
there's a big coordinated

326
00:15:46,376 --> 00:15:49,357
national winter gull roost
survey that's being carried out

327
00:15:49,357 --> 00:15:52,898
at all the really important
wetland sites, both coastal and

328
00:15:53,278 --> 00:15:55,539
inland as well, so gravel pits
and reservoirs.

329
00:15:55,779 --> 00:15:59,161
And the reason it's happening is
because gulls on the whole are a

330
00:15:59,201 --> 00:16:02,762
group of birds that are sadly
struggling for lots of different

331
00:16:02,802 --> 00:16:05,263
reasons, breeding and in terms
of their overwintering

332
00:16:05,303 --> 00:16:08,565
populations, because the picture
changes this time of year.

333
00:16:08,585 --> 00:16:10,886
Not only do we have our local
gulls, you know, some of the

334
00:16:10,886 --> 00:16:13,907
birds that you saw earlier in
town, the herring gulls. But we

335
00:16:13,947 --> 00:16:17,629
also get big arrivals of gulls
from all over Europe that come

336
00:16:17,629 --> 00:16:18,990
and spend the winter here as
well.

337
00:16:19,250 --> 00:16:21,551
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: And there's no
guarantee how many gulls we will

338
00:16:21,651 --> 00:16:22,352
see tonight.

339
00:16:22,912 --> 00:16:24,893
PAUL MORTON: If it's a really
torrid night, if it's a really

340
00:16:25,013 --> 00:16:29,356
wet, windy, yucky, horrid night,
it's probably tens and tens of

341
00:16:29,376 --> 00:16:29,916
thousands.

342
00:16:30,376 --> 00:16:33,358
But tonight, anything between
15,000 to 20,000.

343
00:16:33,818 --> 00:16:35,899
But what we'll do is we'll go
down to the beach and then we'll

344
00:16:35,919 --> 00:16:38,801
go and count the gulls in our
sector just here. And then

345
00:16:38,801 --> 00:16:40,202
that's us done for the survey.

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00:16:40,746 --> 00:16:41,446
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Head down to
the beach.

347
00:16:41,466 --> 00:16:41,887
PAUL MORTON: Yeah, let's do it.

348
00:16:41,887 --> 00:16:42,467
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Have a closer
look.

349
00:16:43,347 --> 00:16:46,208
Leaving the viewing point behind
us, we carefully make our way

350
00:16:46,308 --> 00:16:50,070
down the wooden steps onto the
water's edge, where Paul and Mya

351
00:16:50,250 --> 00:16:53,852
set up the scope, ready to begin
the rather daunting task of

352
00:16:53,932 --> 00:16:54,992
counting the gulls.

353
00:16:55,312 --> 00:16:57,113
PAUL MORTON: Grab the scope,
look through there, grab the

354
00:16:57,133 --> 00:17:00,654
handle and just pan right and
you'll see how many birds are

355
00:17:00,654 --> 00:17:01,015
out there.

356
00:17:01,175 --> 00:17:02,255
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Oh my word,
yeah.

357
00:17:02,435 --> 00:17:04,136
PAUL MORTON: Keep going, keep
going. And there's thousands of

358
00:17:04,136 --> 00:17:04,236
birds.

359
00:17:05,837 --> 00:17:08,018
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: What looked
like just little sort of ripples

360
00:17:08,038 --> 00:17:12,797
in the sand. And dark patches
are all actually gulls.

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00:17:12,917 --> 00:17:16,019
PAUL MORTON: Yeah I'm going to
start looking out with Mya now

362
00:17:16,139 --> 00:17:19,542
and just checking this little
finger of land out in front of

363
00:17:19,582 --> 00:17:21,023
us. Ready Maya?

364
00:17:21,703 --> 00:17:22,384
MYA BAMBRICK: Yeah ready to go.

365
00:17:22,484 --> 00:17:27,688
PAUL MORTON: I'll scan three or
four times first just so I've

366
00:17:27,668 --> 00:17:31,050
got a rough idea in my head
what's out there and roughly how

367
00:17:31,110 --> 00:17:33,892
much is out there.

368
00:17:33,892 --> 00:17:37,254
So I'm going to start counting
Black-headed gulls.

369
00:17:38,175 --> 00:17:40,936
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: So we're only
counting birds that are settled

370
00:17:40,956 --> 00:17:41,636
on the water?

371
00:17:42,537 --> 00:17:45,138
PAUL MORTON: Black-headed gulls
are the smallest. The ones I

372
00:17:45,158 --> 00:17:48,099
think people find trickier,
things like common gulls, quite

373
00:17:48,159 --> 00:17:51,520
cute looking but they're a bit
nondescript and the greater

374
00:17:51,540 --> 00:17:54,001
blackbacks are big bruisers, big
loners.

375
00:17:54,562 --> 00:17:56,742
MYA BAMBRICK: Just straight down
from the wind turbine to the

376
00:17:56,842 --> 00:17:57,243
right.

377
00:17:57,883 --> 00:17:59,303
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Oh is that
what I thought was a goose?

378
00:17:59,924 --> 00:18:00,244
MYA BAMBRICK: Yes.

379
00:18:01,184 --> 00:18:03,025
Not a goose, it's not a goose,
it's a gull.

380
00:18:05,686 --> 00:18:07,828
PAUL MORTON: There's two
different gull calls there. So

381
00:18:07,808 --> 00:18:09,989
the really high pitch, that's
the herring gulls. And then the

382
00:18:09,989 --> 00:18:12,471
ones you can hear that are
going, "oh, oh" that's the

383
00:18:12,511 --> 00:18:13,312
greater blackbacks.

384
00:18:16,234 --> 00:18:19,036
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: So we're just
watching dozens of gulls flying

385
00:18:19,056 --> 00:18:22,158
in really, really low over the
water. And the sun's set now.

386
00:18:22,238 --> 00:18:23,619
It's dropped behind the horizon.

387
00:18:23,719 --> 00:18:26,581
But the light coming across the
water with the gulls flying low

388
00:18:26,641 --> 00:18:29,943
across is just extraordinarily
beautiful.

389
00:18:31,144 --> 00:18:32,965
PAUL MORTON: Come and have a
look through the scope here? Can

390
00:18:32,965 --> 00:18:35,227
you see all the birds sat on the
island out there?

391
00:18:35,227 --> 00:18:37,509
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Oh yeah yeah
yeah!

392
00:18:37,509 --> 00:18:42,952
Whoa again when you get your eye
in there's absolutely hundreds

393
00:18:42,992 --> 00:18:43,473
of them!

394
00:18:43,473 --> 00:18:44,353
PAUL MORTON: Yeah.

395
00:18:44,353 --> 00:18:47,956
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Mostly gulls
are they chilling out having a

396
00:18:47,996 --> 00:18:49,677
chitter chatter before bed?

397
00:18:49,677 --> 00:18:51,618
PAUL MORTON: Birds in the winds
are all very sociable because

398
00:18:51,618 --> 00:18:53,880
they're all looking to learn off
each other where the best

399
00:18:54,100 --> 00:18:57,563
feeding sites are and you know
they get a lot of information

400
00:18:57,583 --> 00:18:59,124
off of each other so yeah
they're probably all just having

401
00:18:59,124 --> 00:19:00,965
a bit of a catch-up at the
moment.

402
00:19:00,965 --> 00:19:04,631
The islands that they're sat on
That's the gull colony in the

403
00:19:04,651 --> 00:19:05,371
spring and summer.

404
00:19:05,851 --> 00:19:06,531
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Ah, right.

405
00:19:06,531 --> 00:19:07,892
PAUL MORTON: Those are the gull
breeding islands.

406
00:19:07,972 --> 00:19:08,192
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Yeah.

407
00:19:08,792 --> 00:19:12,094
PAUL MORTON: When we first
surveyed those in 2008, there

408
00:19:12,194 --> 00:19:15,795
were about 8,500 pairs of
black-headed gulls nesting on

409
00:19:15,795 --> 00:19:16,456
these islands.

410
00:19:17,076 --> 00:19:20,497
But with rising water levels,
it's eroding the islands away.

411
00:19:20,537 --> 00:19:23,879
When we went out and surveyed
last year, we only had about

412
00:19:23,939 --> 00:19:25,379
4,000.

413
00:19:25,419 --> 00:19:28,100
One of the reasons Poole Harbour
stays as beautiful as it is, I

414
00:19:28,100 --> 00:19:31,402
mean, this landscape we've got
in front of us, is like this

415
00:19:31,442 --> 00:19:35,871
because we have important
numbers of gulls coming here.

416
00:19:35,891 --> 00:19:36,951
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Because it's
protected.

417
00:19:37,031 --> 00:19:37,711
PAUL MORTON: Exactly.

418
00:19:38,051 --> 00:19:40,492
So making sure that nothing
happens to those islands or

419
00:19:40,612 --> 00:19:45,173
trying to safeguard that colony
is really key to the whole

420
00:19:45,213 --> 00:19:48,294
harbour's preservation over the
next 20-odd years or forever,

421
00:19:48,374 --> 00:19:48,634
really.

422
00:19:50,395 --> 00:19:53,315
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: So we're just
about losing the light. There's

423
00:19:53,796 --> 00:19:58,057
still a couple of straggler
gulls hanging around, but mostly

424
00:19:58,277 --> 00:20:00,697
I think they've headed off to
roost now. Have you got an idea,

425
00:20:00,777 --> 00:20:03,519
Paul, of how many we've managed
to count this evening?

426
00:20:04,300 --> 00:20:06,623
PAUL MORTON: My list here we've
got just the two greater black

427
00:20:06,683 --> 00:20:12,309
back gulls, 36 common gull, 41
herring gull, 14 common gull and

428
00:20:12,430 --> 00:20:16,592
one med gull.

429
00:20:16,592 --> 00:20:19,093
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: As we pack
away our scopes and binoculars,

430
00:20:19,113 --> 00:20:22,594
the sun has finally set. I just
want to say a massive thank you

431
00:20:22,654 --> 00:20:25,455
to Paul and to Mya for showing
me around today.

432
00:20:26,376 --> 00:20:30,378
So I've learned that gulls are
an incredibly diverse set of

433
00:20:30,418 --> 00:20:34,780
species. There's no such thing
as a seagull and I'm now a

434
00:20:34,780 --> 00:20:36,020
fully-fledged gull fan.

435
00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:40,122
They're incredibly intelligent
birds and rather than get angry

436
00:20:40,182 --> 00:20:42,823
about gulls when they steal our
chips we just need to learn to

437
00:20:42,863 --> 00:20:45,384
live with them and understand
that they're just carving out an

438
00:20:45,404 --> 00:21:00,890
ecological niche like any other
successful species.

439
00:21:00,890 --> 00:21:04,032
Thank you for listening to the
very first episode of Wild

440
00:21:04,092 --> 00:21:08,353
Tales. I hope you've enjoyed it
do you have an amazing story

441
00:21:08,393 --> 00:21:11,255
about the natural world I'd love
to hear from you.

442
00:21:12,355 --> 00:21:17,057
You can find the podcast on
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443
00:21:17,057 --> 00:21:19,298
you'll also find
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444
00:21:19,518 --> 00:21:22,740
nature's giants and the micro
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445
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:23,420
place it is.

446
00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:27,362
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447
00:21:27,602 --> 00:21:33,505
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the wildness around you.

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Make sure you get every episode
by following Wild Tales on your

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favorite podcast app.

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Even better leave us a review or
comment on an episode i'd love

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to hear what you think.

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See you next time!