‘Murder’ on the sea shore

Regular users of the kiosk at Bordeaux will have noticed a flock – or ‘murder’, to use the collective noun – of about 20 of the black birds hanging around looking for scraps, while gulls can be few and far between.

Mrs Davis said that gull numbers generally had decreased due to some poor breeding years but 2025 was actually good for the birds.

‘There were many nests on the nearby islets of Houmtel Paradis and Omptolle,’ she said.

‘A small flock of black-headed gulls overwinter, but they favour the area next to the lane leading to the car park by the old tip.’

La Societe has been carrying out recording work around most of the island’s coastline since the 1970s and Bordeaux is part of Mrs Davis’ monthly shorebird survey.

‘The number of gulls on the beach at Bordeaux will depend on the state of the tide as that decides whether the gulls are roosting or off feeding,’ she said.

There has always been a lot of carrion crows in the island due to the lack of natural predators and Mrs Davis said they had now learned the trick of dropping shellfish from a height onto rocks to smash them.

But while they are being seen in greater numbers on island beaches she did not think this was significant for the gull population.

‘I don’t think the crows will have a major impact on the number of gulls. Both birds are opportunists and eat anything and everything.

‘There will be a certain amount of competition between gulls and crows along the shoreline, but the gulls will also feed out at sea and will take advantage of fishing waste in the harbours.’

Mrs Davis added that people should not feed gulls near kiosks or beach restaurants.

‘I saw someone throwing bread for the gulls at Pembroke on the wall by the restaurant – if that’s done regularly it won’t be long before the gulls eye up people’s ice creams and plates of food,’ she said.

‘And it’s not their fault – they’re hard-wired to take what they can.’