Visited the reserve yesterday evening and noted the flocks of black-headed gulls getting very excited and hovering over the tree tops on the way to Wath Ings hide. They appeared to be trying to pick something off the upper tips of the branches.
I've never seen gulls do this before - anyone any idea what they were after?
Hi there. It could have been a number of things but all most likely insect / invertibrate related.
The other evening there was a lek of Ghost Moths on the reserve (quite unusual) and the gull swooped down in numbers and ate the lot! I've seen large concentrations on days when flying ants are abundant, circling round in the thermals just hoovering them up. They are pretty dextrous so the insects don't have to be that big.
It is likely that there was a hatch of something - maybe moth related - and that they were taking advantage of the opportunity.
Hope that helps
Matthew
Thanks Matthew - Moths sounds about right!