Blog

Meet Gloria, one of our herring gull neighbors.

22. August 2024

Birdwatching

The gulls in our neighborhood have their preferred spots. Gulliver & Josefine spend most of their time on our roof, and Gloria lives on one of the chimneys across the street. We’ve seen her from afar many times, and have gotten to know her and her child from up close since this summer.

Species

European Herring Gull

Portrait photo from the chest upwards of an adult European Herring Gull just moulting into winter plumage, with light brown stripes on the head. She's looking towards the camera, and around her right eye her feathers are standing upwards and have blood on them.

Adult european herring gull looking downwards, on the bottom right corner of the picture frame. Behind her is a bright blue sky.

The first time she landed on our balcony, I at first assumed she was Gulliver, because she had no fear at all and acted as if she owned the place. As soon as she set foot on the ledge, she decided to make the jump to our outside sofa and table. Only then I realised she wasn’t Gulliver: her beak was much smaller, her head rounder, and her eyes had different patterns.

Portrait of a European Herring Gull in a snow storm. The picture is zoomed in on his face, the background is an out of focus hazy dark purple/gray, and there's snow falling around the gull. He's in adult winter plumage, white body with gray stripes on the head and around the eyes.

She must have seen from across the street that Gulliver & Josefine are safe here (and get treats) and decided it means it’s safe for her to check out the place as well.

She also has a very hungry chick with her most of the time this summer. It’s more or less the same story every day:

As soon as the gulls arrive in the morning, the child starts crying for food, and doesn’t stop crying until they fly off together with the rest of the flock. Then a bit later, Gloria pops up again on “her” chimney, and after verifying that Gulliver & Josefine are indeed no longer on our balcony, she flies over to us, rests for a while, and disappears again until sunrise.

She’s one fierce gull who doesn’t shy away from a fight, and lately she’s been showing up with new (minor) face injuries on a weekly basis. Breeding season is tough, and with hungry young to feed, the gulls around here often end up in fights with each other for food.

Portrait of a European Herring Gull, photographed from the front, while she's looking to the bottom left.

Additionally they have to defend the young from predators as well, so it’s no wonder they look beaten up by the end of the season.

Luckily all of Gloria’s wounds have been superficial and none of them required medical attention, and at least one of her chicks survived and turned into a lively, curious, and confident little one.

Well done, Gloria! 💪🏻🐣💗

Prints

I'm selling prints and notebooks with Gloria's portraits:

Until September 2024 there's a 20% off launch sale in my shop, and ko-fi members get 30% off Gloria-related items.

Enjoy my work?

ko-fi Print shop

I'm selling my photographs as high-quality prints, notebooks, and mugs through my store. Bonus content and downloads are available for subscribers on ko-fi.