Royal Mail says sorry for delays caused by seagulls

Residents in a town in Cornwall have received a letter from Royal Mail apologising for late mail - explaining that its delivery workers were being hampered by dive-bombing seagulls.

Royal Mail said those living in the affected zone in Liskeard could choose to wait until the birds were not aggressively protecting their young, or nominate a new address.

One Liskeard resident described it as "deadly" to go outside when the birds were nesting.

Some species of gull have seen 75% drops in their populations in 55 years

They are the sound of our seaside, and can often be seen stealing a pasty, a sandwich or some chips.

Seagulls. But, love them or loathe them, they are in decline, according to wildlife experts.

While the birds may appear to be thriving, they are on the red list - the highest level - for British bird species of concern, because their population has dropped by 72% in 55 years.

Marine conservation officer at Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Rebecca Allen, said it was not just in Devon and Cornwall that pairs had decreased.

"The population has declined around Great Britain. It's nearly three-quarters decline, since 1969, so that’s quite serious," she said. "It was about 200,000 breeding pairs... so that brings it down to about 50,000 breeding pairs."
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Wildlife supporters say gulls - even the cheeky ones, like this one sitting where maybe it should not - are an integral part of the seaside

In decline…really??

Come to Bath or most other towns and cities and you’ll find the ******s are thriving. In the part of Bath where I work the gulls have had a very successful breeding season…again! The council have given up and do nothing. What makes it worse is that people actually feed them!!! Trust me, they are more than capable of feeding themselves.

If I had my way I’d class them as vermin. Wretched birds.

Totally with you Timmer

In decline…really??

Come to Bath or most other towns and cities and you’ll find the ******s are thriving. In the part of Bath where I work the gulls have had a very successful breeding season…again! The council have given up and do nothing. What makes it worse is that people actually feed them!!! Trust me, they are more than capable of feeding themselves.

If I had my way I’d class them as vermin. Wretched birds.

I am told that in days gone by Alka Seltzer used to be a great method of dealing with unwanted gull attention.....

Looking at the first picture in their item: where is that?  The seagull has rather effectively got in the way of the wider view: I initially thought it might be Polperro, but I then discounted that.  I'll bet it's somewhere in Cornwall, though.

No, that's definitely not Salcombe. 


I would have thought a gull that gigantic walking down the road would have received more news coverage.

That's a bit harsh - poor seagull! 

I'm still quite interested to find out where that seagull actually was - when he was potentially sniped.

My research of images online still suggest possible locations in Cornwall, but I have no more detail than that.

Can anyone here help, please: where is seagull?

Thanks, johnneyw - that's exactly where the seagull is (or was): that quite distinctive grey granite frontage of the chapel, or church, confirms it. 

My neighbours report that a particularly aggressive seagull was attacking pet cats and trying to kill kittens.
They went to fetch a gun but meanwhile, the largest cats had killed the gull. It is very rare for domestic cats to kill a gull, but not unknown.
The cats showed no interest in eating the dead gull, so it was given to some anglers who used the guts as bait.

My neighbours report that a particularly aggressive seagull was attacking pet cats and trying to kill kittens.

It was fortunate for your neighbours that the cats saved them from breaking the law.

Foul foul creatures.

Broadgage recipe for cooking seagull.

"Remove feathers and use these to stuff a pillow for someone that you don't much like. Remove guts and feed to other seagulls. Place carcass in a large pot and weight with a stone. Boil until stone is tender, throw gull away."

More seriously, my Ukrainian neighbours observed the size and stupidity of seagulls and remarked that there must be loads of meat on such birds. Having killed and cooked one, they now know why we don't eat them !
Even in the last war, when food was short seagulls were almost never eaten. A few people killed them to feed cats and dogs.

Real port comes only from a designated region of Portugal.
In years gone by "British port" was available. It is now outlawed unless renamed with no mention of the word port on the bottle. The usual description is "British rich red fortified wine" The only merit of the product is an attractive price, suitable for cooking, or as an ingredient in punch or mulled wine.

You can't take a shotgun out against a seagull (sorry, Timmer, but that's the law ) but I'd be happy to take out a grey squirrel with one.

Red Squirrels excepted, obviously. 

Cornwall seagull sips man's coffee before stealing his mug



A gull has taken revenge on a man who was installing anti-bird spikes in a Cornish town - by drinking his coffee and pinching his mug.

Maintenance worker Darren Pardoe had been bird proofing houses in Porthleven when he stopped at a pub for a coffee on 3 June. He said he had been talking to someone before he turned around to find the gull helping himself to the hot brew. Before he could take action, the feathered thief flew off with the mug. "I think it had remembered me," he joked.

Recalling the coffee heist, Mr Pardoe said: "I turn round and sure enough a seagull's got its beak in my coffee... next minute the bird picks up the coffee cup by its handle and takes off across the harbour with it. It flew round the harbour and then landed on the water, put the cup down, and the cup just sank."

Mr Pardoe captured a photo of the bird in flight with his coffee mug.

Woman needs umbrella to fend off seagull attacks

A woman living in Cornwall has said she cannot leave her house without needing to defend herself against seagulls.

Valerie Bannister, from Fowey, said she has been left "feeling scared" after she was knocked to the ground on Friday night.

The 70-year-old said she did not wish to see the animals harmed and explained the birds were trying to protect their chicks which are outside the front and rear door to her house.

However, she admitted she was now fearful of serious injury if something was not done. Discussing Friday's incident, Ms Bannister said: "I was on the floor with these wretched birds circling above me."

She added: "The adult attacked me so badly that I fell over, which to be honest has left me feeling scared. I thought they were going to attack me again. If a young man had hit me like this, the police would probably have arrested him."

Ms Bannister said she only suffered bruising from hitting the floor but said if she had not been carrying an umbrella it would have been much worse.

Asked if she had been able to leave her house since the attack, she said: "I've left the house but I've been on my guard. Yesterday, I was leaving through the back door, going down the side of the house, through the garage and out of the drive but while carrying an umbrella."

The wildlife conservation charity RSPB said the Fowey resident was right to be using an umbrella. A spokesperson said: "When gulls dive-bomb, it's not aggression, just protective parenting. If you are experiencing this, we advise to use an umbrella when entering or leaving a property to deter the parents from getting too close. They'll move on once their chicks can fly, which won't take long once they are out of the nest."

The Fowey resident said she did not see how the issue could be resolved because the animals are protected. "The law was written in 1981 and seagull behaviour was very different then," she said. "I'm in a town now where they are an absolute menace. I just feel the ruling is archaic, it's almost 50 years old."

Cornwall Council have been contacted for comment.