Collection

Gulliver & Josefine

Gulliver and Josefine are a couple of adult european herring gulls living in the center of Oslo. Thanks to her ring data we know Josefine is at least 13 years old, and has been living in the same neighborhood most of her life.

She and her partner Gulliver were living on the neighbor's chimney until 2023, when they decided to move to our balcony, and I've been following their life since.

13 pictures

2 blogs

1 species

Gulliver and Josefine have been living in our street for many years. Each day, all our neighborhood gulls follow the same routine: as soon as the sun comes up they arrive one by one to their own trusted roofs, relax and look for food around the parks during the day, and leave back to see when the sun sets.

I have pictures of our two lovebirds napping on a neighbor's chimney dating back to early 2023, when I first bought my telezoom lens, but Josefine's ring data suggests she's been around here for much longer.

Get to know the couple

Adult herring gull looking at the camera from behind a diagonal roof, with a trans flag colored sky in the background

Introduction to Gulliver and Josefine, our rooftop gulls

24. July 2024

Two tough herring gulls have our rooftop balcony as their favorite hangout spot, and enjoy watching us as much as we enjoy watching them.

Birdwatching

Adult herring gull looking at the camera from behind a diagonal roof.

What we know about "our" herring gull Josefine

1. August 2024

Josefine is a herring gull living on our roof. She was banded as an adult in January 2016, giving us a lot of information about her.

Birdwatching

RSS feed for Gulliver & Josefine

Photos

Close-up (zoomed in and cropped) of the eye and part of the head of an adult european herring gull in winter plumage (white head with brown/gray stripes). Her iris is yellow/light green, with a black pupil that reflects the sunlight and 3-4 tiny barely noticeable black specks on the iris. Around the eye there's an orange circle, out of which tiny white feathers grow, almost like white eyelashes.

Portrait of an adult herring gull in winter plumage, zoonmed in on her face. She has a lot of brown/gray stripes, which makes her face look kind of dark. Her beak is on the small side for a herring gull, and has a faded orange/yellow color. Her eyes are yellow, with few very specks on the iris. In front of her is a larger herring gull, completely out of focus. The background are out of focus buildings, creating a blurry gradient.

Portrait of an adult herring gull in winter plumage, showing the left side of his face. He has a white head, with ligt brown/gray stripes, which gets a bit darker around the eyes. The background are completely blurry out of focus buildings, creating a black/brown/blue gradient backdrop.

Portrait of an adult herring gull shouting towards the camera. The background is black and out of focus, whereas the gull is in fous. He's moulting from summer to winter plumage, and looking a bit bald on the head as a result.

Adult herring gull looking straight at the camera, with a stern look on her face. Another gull is standing out of focus in front of her, and the background is a blue-ish out of focus color.

Adult herring gull in breeding plumage, looking at the camera, with a different gull standing out of focus in the foreground.

All photos

Blogs

What we know about "our" herring gull Josefine

1. August 2024

Josefine is a herring gull living on our roof. She was banded as an adult in January 2016, giving us a lot of information about her.

Birdwatching

Introduction to Gulliver and Josefine, our rooftop gulls

24. July 2024

Two tough herring gulls have our rooftop balcony as their favorite hangout spot, and enjoy watching us as much as we enjoy watching them.

Birdwatching

All blogs

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