Picture: courtesy of freenature.comLast week I was on my way to Brighton railway station, to catch a train to Newhaven, when I was attacked by a seagull.
Inevitably, everyone that I spoke to found this incredibly funny, but I was left rather shaken by the event. I was simply walking along a street of terraced houses in Brighton when I received a hard 'thud' to the back of my head, followed by much cawing from a specific seagull. When I put my hand up to rub the spot, my hand came back covered in blood, so I can only presume the gull's beak had dug in.
Apparently, this is not a particularly rare event. For a start, it's nesting season, so the gulls are particularly protective of the area around their nests. Secondly, Brighton has replaced kerbside collections of plastic bags and wheelie bins with large new communal bins. These, whilst controversial, have at least been effective in reducing the amount of food debris strewn around the place, which has dried up a major part of their food supply, so making the seagulls that bit more frantic.
And I for one shall certainly be wearing a hat when I walk along that street for the next few weeks...
...to the seagull chicks. They've gone from very small balls of fluff to more independently minded chicks, and are already beginning to wander around the chimney top. This, of course, makes them more vulnerable on their exposed home to the rooks, magpies and other birds (not to mention other seagulls), so we'll have to wait and see what happens next.
