Hello to every one,
I am new to the forum and this is my first post.
I love all wild life but I have a particular soft spot for Gulls. I work with a small group that looks after and rehabilitates orphaned and injured gulls.
I live on an estate comprising six or so four storey blocks of flats.
Over the last few years Herring Gulls have come to nest on the roofs of the blocks. During the spring and summer of 2009
I have watched them courting, nesting, hatching and rearing their young. The devotion of the adult birds to each other is truly touching and they make wonderful parents.
On Monday the nests with this years eggs were destroyed. I have been told that this was done with the agreement of Natural England and the Police on the entirely spurious grounds that the nests were a threat to health and safety.
It was heart wrenching to hear the anguished squawks of the parent gulls as their nests and eggs were destroyed in front of them.
The Police are worse than useless. I told them that they were in the pocket of these bird killers masquerading as bird "control " companies.
I know the people responsible and have cut off my service charges in protest.
Has anyone any ideas of what else I can do to accounts the butchers responsible for this pointless slaughter.
Yours in distress
Gulldorf
Unfortunately under the notorious general licence, this is not illegal.
It is however morally questionable to say the least, and such a tragedy.
Gulls sadly often get misrepresented and have a low public image, meaning this type of thing never attracts much attention.
It's both what you do and the way that you do it!
You cannot fly like an eagle with the wings of a wren. William Henry Hudson (1841 - 1922)
I think some of the bad press that gulls get is caused by our habit of feeding them especially at the seaside.I am sure that this encourages them to dwell alongside us for the easy food.In some areas they are culled to prevent them destroying the nests and chicks of other birds,this is more prevalent in game shooting areas.
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Hi Gulldorf and welcome to the RSPB Community
Presumably these control measures were initiated following complaints from someone or another. The general licence to control certain species "to preserve public health or public safety" is not applicable in cases of nuisance so any complaints about "being kept awake at night" or similar would not provide a legal basis for Herring Gull nest/egg removal.
I share your opinion that the existence of these gull colonies posed no real danger to anyone, but suggesting that the Police are "in the pockets of these bird killers" is a bit silly. The Police are there to uphold the law and, from their point of view, no law was being broken (unless an adult or juvenile gull was being harmed) in the circumstances you described.
If you wanted to challenge the control operation on legal grounds you could pose an awkward question to the building managers (local authority?) regarding evidence of risk to human health and safety. Don't forget to ask what non-lethal control means had been considered and rejected too - the general licence requires this as a condition of use.
Here's the current general licence if you want to review it
www.naturalengland.org.uk/.../wml-gl05_tcm6-24150.pdf
JBNTS
Every day a little more irate about bird of prey persecution, and I have a cat - Got a problem with that?
Wendy S said: I think some of the bad press that gulls get is caused by our habit of feeding them especially at the seaside.I am sure that this encourages them to dwell alongside us for the easy food.
I think some of the bad press that gulls get is caused by our habit of feeding them especially at the seaside.I am sure that this encourages them to dwell alongside us for the easy food.
Just to pick up on a couple of points. The control compnay (unless it is a real cowboy organisation) is not going to knowingly breach any legislation as it knows its work will cease. The licences are quite specific and unfortunately gulls are in this love / hate category where some people like them others have problems with and they do cause problems in town centres. I have gulls on a nearby industrial estate and luckily they are not touched but there is only 100 or so at the moment (50 miles from the nearest coastline). If they got to 500, as they could, the attitude might change.
If have highlighted Seaman's quote because I agree it is our fault they are there. The food at sea is reducing but landfill attracts them inland and rubbush in the street brings them close to us.
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