Gulls are a misunderstood family, and often unfairly maligned. The average person may see them as pests, whether at the beach or a big-box store parking lot, or even the local landfill. And even among birders, there is a sometimes the stigma that they are “trash birds.”
It’s unfair on several levels, first to cast such a wide net over so many unique, and often very different, species. And second, but certainly not to be diminished, it isn’t their fault that we, as humans, have created parking lots and landfills, and littered them with food, creating what could be termed, in legalese, an attractive nuisance.
For the most part, the gulls I encountered were content to do bird things, and ignored me unless I came too near. Sometimes that was just standing around above the tide line, or riding the wind over the surf. Or in the case of the herring gull, enjoying a fresh crab breakfast.
In fact the only gull that paid any attention to me was the laughing gull – the dapper guy pictured atop the sign – who made it known that I was rude not to share my BBQ dinner with him, as I ate it in the open trunk of my car. (Rude or not, I don’t feed the wildlife!)
Being larger than the flocks of surf birds, and that much less fearful of people, gulls also make good subjects. Many seem willing to pose, and it isn’t difficult to find several species within a small area, making quick additions to your birding life list – if you’re the sort that likes to keep track of such thing (for the record, I am that sort).