Species of the week: black-headed gull

Gulls - you either love them or hate, but at Minsmere you certainly can't avoid them in spring and summer. In fact, the reserve would seem eerily quiet without them. To me, the first cue that spring has truly arrived is when you get out of your car and hear the distant squabbling of black-headed gulls on the Scrape. That cue is usually heard in late February or early March, after which numbers of birds, and the general volume of their calls, gradually increase until they peak about now, in late April, with the breeding season well underway.

It's impossible not to see our black-headed gulls at this time of year, which makes them a very apt choice for our latest species of the week, as I continue to run through Minsmere's 70 species to spot. We launched this series last year to celebrate our 70th birthday, and although we celebrate our 71st birthday on Wednesday, I'm only two thirds of the way through the list, so plan to continue this series of blogs and highlight the remaining species that we've been suggesting you look for as part of your visit.

There are more than 3000 black-headed gulls on the Scrape at the moment - that's 1500 pairs, so it's no wonder that they make a lot of noise! Many are already nesting, and as the spring progresses we'll soon be seeing fluffy chicks emerging to walk around the islands, awaiting food from their busy parents.

Black-headed gulls are among our most familiar birds, as they are regular visitors to school playing fields as well as being attracted to free-handouts at park lakes where families feed the ducks. (Please remember that if you do feed the ducks, try to avoid using bread as it's not healthy for them and quickly pollutes the water. Try using wheat or duck food instead. Both are available from most pet shops.)

A black-headed gull on nest

Black-headed gulls are much smaller than the herring and lesser black-backed gulls that breed on roofs in many local towns, and are easily distinguished in the breeding season by their chocolate-brown heads and dark red bill and legs. Their upperparts are pale grey, and the wing tips are edged with black.

Minsmere's black-headed gull colony attracts a number of other species that nest among the gulls for the added protection that they provide against marauding bigger gulls and crows. In particular, the avocets, common and Sandwich terns benefit from this protection, and the old adage "safety in numbers", although with so many gulls present some predation always occurs, with the black-headed gulls themselves both victim and culprit.

Another bird to have benefited from the gulls' presence in recent years is the Mediterranean gull, whose numbers of rocketed over the two years. After a record 36 pairs bred last year, we've already had our highest ever April count of 290 Mediterranean gulls this year. Even if you are in the hate gulls category, Mediterranean gulls are worth a look. These are the true "black-headed gulls" with yet black hoods and bright red beaks that really them to stand out from the crowd. They are marginally bigger and paler than black-headed gulls, with clean white wingtips (in adult birds) and a distinctive cat-like mewing call.

Mediterranean gulls on the Scrape

There are other gulls to look for on the Scrape too, with several common gulls still present, and the first kittiwakes arriving this week to gather nesting material to take back the nearby colony on the rigs offshore from Sizewell. There's also lesser and great black-backed and herring gulls, and the chance of a little gull to test your ID. Add in an impressive 81 Sandwich terns and slowly increasing numbers of common terns, as well as the avocets and oystercatchers, and the Scrape has a very black and white feel to it in the spring. Even more so today, as a spoonbill has settled to sleep on South Scrape.

Wader migration is slowly beginning to pick up, with regular sightings of bar-tailed godwit, grey plover and spotted redshank alongside increasing numbers of black-tailed godwits and a number of dunlins and turnstones. Northbound waders will continue to pass through until the end of May, and many are already acquiring their breeding finery, so it's worth spending time checking any hidden corners on the Scrape. You never know what you might spot. Don't forget to call into North Hide to look for the nesting lapwings and redshanks too.

Most of our ducks have already departed for the Arctic, but small numbers of all the regular species remain - shelducks, gadwalls, shovelers and mallards all nest here anyway, and there are still several wigeons and teals around. 

Squabbling black-headed gulls are definitely not the only sounds you'll here either. The reedbeds are already echoing to the spirited songs of sedge warblers and the more rhythmical reed warblers, as well as the deep-throated boom of eight male bitterns and the whinnying calls of little grebes. In the woods and scrub listen out for blackcaps, garden warblers, common and lesser whitethroats, willow warblers and chiffchaffs. At least four nightingales and one turtle dove are back on Westleton Heath, where you might also hear woodlarks singing.

Nightingale by John Bridges (rspb-images.com)

There have been daily sightings of red kites around the reserve, with at least three seen today, as well as buzzards, sparrowhawks, peregrine, marsh harriers and the first hobbies. The skies are also filling with sand martins, which have now been joined by several swallows and a few house martins and swifts. 

Finally, the warm weather this week has brought the adders out to play, as well as lots of insects. The latter have included beeflies around any patch of flowering ground ivy, Clark's mining bees in the car park, orange tip, speckled wood and green-veined white butterflies, and even a few green tiger beetles.

Orange-tip by Sue Tranter (rspb-images.com0

With so much to see, it's worth planning a visit as soon as possible.