Landfill closure ‘not fatal for the gulls’
THE closure of the landfill site at Mont Cuet will inconvenience the gulls who feed there, but will not be fatal to them, according to one expert.
La Societe Guernesiaise conservation officer Jamie Hooper said there was no requirement to make any provision for gulls when the site closes.
‘Gulls, just like other birds and wildlife, will exploit a food supply for as long as it is available and if circumstances change, they are generally able to use other sources of food already known to them,’ he said.
‘For example, in future local birds will have a higher reliance on natural foraging of coastal habitats, the farmed landscape and the marine environment.’
Mont Cuet currently closed early on a Saturday and remained shut until Monday morning. During this time, the birds used other areas without any problem, proving their natural ability to be resourceful.
Mr Hooper estimated that at least 50% of local gulls sought food from Mont Cuet at some stage, but that did not mean that they got it as competition between the birds was intense.
The closure of Mont Cuet could result in a downturn in local breeding productivity, he said.
‘With the landfill closed, there may be less easily available food at a critical time so the average number of chicks fledged per nest may drop,’ he said.
‘This could lead to a long-term decline in our population but this will be determined by the availability of other food sources and the birds’ ability to exploit it.’
It could take 10 years to see if this happens as gulls are long-lived and already have variable breeding success each year depending on factors such as weather, human disturbance and predation.
‘On the flip side, Mont Cuet is a massive source of disease to gulls. We will hopefully see a drop in the amount of food poisoning – botulism – and the number of birds that become entangled in plastic.’
There were many unknowns in the big picture, he said.
‘It is for this reason that we started colour-ringing gulls 20 years ago. We now have a huge amount of baseline data and a high number of ringed birds ready to provide the second half of the story when the gates close. In that respect, we are in a very good position to record exactly what individual gulls, and the population as a whole does in the next few years.’
He said the tip also formed a useful stopping off point for migrant birds, non-breeders and wintering birds. It has been shown that these gulls used a number of landfill sites and other feeding sites across Western Europe and as such would rely on them more heavily.
Mont Cuet will close to the public on Monday 3 September, though waste contractors will continue to use it until new processing equipment at Longue Hougue is commissioned, possibly in the second half of October.
