4th December
Okay, cop out time. Again. Will have to use a species I’ve written about in the main list. Jut another god awful day. One of those days where it feels like the sun hasn’t bothered to come over the horizon. I’ve looked out the window forlornly at the garden and barely seen a bird. I think I’ve seen one. Luckily another bird landed for a split second on the roof of a house opposite which was a little bit more interesting in the scheme of things, but one I’ve written about before. Anyway, without further ado…
Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Linnaeus, 1766)
I’ve written about this before (See here: https://wordpress.com/post/speciesaday.family.blog/68) so you can read more about it there. Today’s bird was probably looking for an alternative source of food, garden scraps maybe. Black-headed Gulls are pretty decent scavengers which makes them a very successful species. They don’t often visit gardens, or at least not small gardens like mine, I think they perhaps need a longer run up to take off again – not something easily done in a tennis-court sized shape surrounded by hedges, trees and a house. So I’m guessing today’s bird was looking for scraps in a large garden. It makes species number 4 in the advent calendar. I would guess if you opened a door of an actual advent calendar and found an angry gull on the other side you would be in for a shock.
Advent species so far:
- 1st: Goosander Mergus merganser
- 2nd: December Moth Poecilocampa populi
- 3rd: Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum
- 4th Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus
A Species a Day 