Jersey gulls fly to Guernsey to feast at Mont Cuet tip
JERSEY gulls have been flying to the island to eat at Mont Cuet landfill, La Societe Guernesiaise's conservation officer has said.
After it was reported the birds could disappear from Jersey within 20 years because of dwindling fish stocks, Jamie Hooper said the group's gull ringing programme had shown the species was making the 26-mile journey to fill up.
Far from being concerned, Mr Hooper said the easy food source that a landfill site provided meant their numbers had swelled to artificial levels.
'They can do that, it has been proven with the gull ringing programme. What we have seen with landfill is that the population is elevated and as landfill falls back the population will decrease to a more natural level. We have seen the numbers decline at Pleinmont cliffs, where they were once a stronghold.
'Where we are seeing decline we are working with the Environment Department to protect vulnerable breeding areas, for instance we rope off parts of Lihou Island just to remind people they are breeding.'
The three main species of gull in the island are the herring, great black-backed and lesser black-backed, he said.
