by J.P. Bentley

Lesser Black Backed Gull

About the same size as the Herring Gull, but the upper parts are dark slate grey, and legs yellow. Is seen in small numbers together, rather than hordes, and is more chary of man. Its voice is somewhat deeper than the Herring Gull’s. The young of both are alike: dark mottled brown.

Greater Black Back

If really commanding presence, is much bigger than the Lesser Black Back. The legs are pale pink. Its note is short, deep and gruff. On the shore it will be seen standing aloof from the clamorous medley of Black Headed and Herring Gulls. The dinghy cruiser, off our wilder and less frequented coasts, will readily acknowledge its dignity in repose and ferocity in attack.

The Common Gull

In appearance like a miniature Herring Gull. The Black Headed Gull is a little smaller. The bill and legs are greenish yellow, thus differing from the Herring Gull. The Common Gull is much less numerous than those already mentioned, but recently is more in evidence. It breeds on inland moors.

The Kittiwake

The same size as the Black Headed Gull. It has markedly black wing tips, black legs, and dark eyes. Its feeding habitat is the open northern seas, and breeding haunts sheer sea cliff faces in compact colonies. “Kittiwake” is its breeding call.

The Fulmar

Slightly smaller than the Herring Gull. Grey above and white beneath and no black wing tips. It belongs to the petrels group, quite different genetically from the gulls. The Fulmar may aptly be called the bird of the high latitude ocean — the whaling man’s “mammeluke” — there occurring in huge numbers. It nests in colonies on the sea cliffs of the northern isles.

From these arctic regions, the Fulmar has extended its breeding haunts southwards, and can now be looked for on all the north, west, and east coastal cliffs of the British Isles.

Fascinating to watch, this, our diminutive albatross glides to and fro, hour by hour, sailing with motionless rigid wings along its chosen beat. The superb glide, together with its short stocky head and neck and straight leading edge of wings, distinguish it at once from the gulls. Closer observation reveals the tubular nostrils along the top of the short, hooked, and deeply grooved beak. The Fulmar, or “Font Gull”, is so called because of the musty oil it ejects from its mouth when too closely intruded upon. The inhabitants of St. Kilda, the Faeroes, and other sub-arctic islands relied heavily for food on their annual gatherings of the young birds. Very high grade rock climbing was involved.

The winter months are spent far out over the ocean; but cliff nesting sites are reconnoitred increasingly from the earliest months of the year. By May the colony will be at full strength and the first eggs laid.

The Manx Shearwater

This smaller petrel, black above and white below, flies with beat and glide along the wave contours. It nests in burrows, and its underground crooning can be heard through the night. Trans-global flights of individuals have been recorded.