Almost every day, the same gulls return to the same rooftops of our neighborhood. One of them is a fierce one we call Gloria, who recently popped up on the balcony wearing a ring, giving us a bit more information about their background.

Gloria, an adult european herring gull (larus argentatus) who frequents our balcony.

We originally believed him to be a girl. He's often observed on the same roof as two big male adult herring gulls, so we thought he was the girlfriend of one of them.

But recently he showed up on our balcony freshly ringed, and his data told us he's actually a big fat boy gull.

This also means we'll be able to follow his adventures, even after we've moved away from here, very exciting to see what he will be up to in the future, and if he will be observed breeding this year.

More Gloria

View all my herring gull photos.

Josefine and Gulliver already looked very different from eachother, Gulliver is much larger and has a bigger beak for example, but their winter plumage makes them even more distinct.

Gulliver has few thin brown stripes on his face, but Josefine's head is filled with them. Their head pattern during winter seems to be the same (or similar) each year as well, from what I can tell based on old pictures.

Details

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Close-up of Josefine's eye.

Gulliver and his partner Josefine are still visiting the balcony daily, but both are meanwhile molted into complete winter plumage.

In a way it's easy to tell Gulliver apart from the other neighborhood gulls, thanks to his attitude and the fact that he rarely leaves the side of Josefine. But when in doubt, we check the iris. The black specks on the yellow eyes form a unique pattern, almost like a biological "barcode". And during winter season the pattern formed by the stripes on their head is another way to tell apart individuals.

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.

This summer I met a large flock of gulls (mainly herring gulls and great black-backed gulls) on the beach in Hamningberg, where they blend in perfectly with their moon-like surroundings.

It was incredible to sit and observe this man wild seabirds in their natural element, and it left me wondering how many gulls we saw that night exactly. So when I came home, I went through my pictures and counted.

Gloria is a fierce adult herring gull, who spends a lot of time on the neighbor's roof.

We suspect she's a girl, since she's quite small, and has a short beak and round head.

Gloria is a fierce adult herring gull, who spends a lot of time on the neighbor's roof. She successfully raised at least one chick during the 2024 breeding season, which causes her to get into a lot of disputes about food and territory with the other gulls.

She occasionally visits the balcony with new (minor and superficial) injuries. One time she showed up with blood of another animal all over her face, another time the gull living on our roof pulled feathers out of her face above the beak, and this time she showed up with blood around her eye.

We followed her closely, and luckily the wound healed quickly and without any complications.

Gloria is a fierce adult herring gull, who spends a lot of time on the neighbor's roof.

At night time she often takes a rest stop on our balcony, before joining the rest of the gull flock outside of the city center.

This picture was taken one evening early in August, when she arrived for her evening nap before it got dark outside, so I had the possibility to finally shoot some portraits of her.

Gloria is a fierce adult herring gull, who spends a lot of time on the neighbor's roof.

Gloria is a fierce adult herring gull, who spends a lot of time on the neighbor's roof.

At night time she often takes a rest stop on our balcony, before joining the rest of the gull flock outside of the city center.

This picture was taken one evening early in August, when she arrived for her evening nap before it got dark outside, so I had the possibility to finally shoot some portraits of her.

For a while now, two herring gulls have been "living" on our rooftop balcony. Before that they lived on a chimney across the street. We called the male Gulliver, and the female Josefine. Josefine has a color ring around her leg, which is registered in an online database where we can see past observations of her.

She's at least 13 years old

She received her ring in January of 2016 as an adult, 5 years or older. This means she hatched in or before 2011, and at least 13 years old at the time of writing. It's not possible to age gulls once they reach adulthood, so she could be anything from 13 to 30 years or older (the oldest herring gull recorded is 49 years old).

She has been frequenting our area for at least 8 years

Ever since she received her ring, she's been consistently observed in the parks around our area, and several times right down the street from us. There are a few exceptions. Like the rest of our herring gull flock she breeds outside the city center, and she has occasionally been observed at other gull hotspots.

I've seen her on the neighbor's chimney since at least February 2023, when I first started taking pictures of the gulls in our street, and she's been frequenting our balcony since February 2024. The gulls where already on the chimney's before February 2023 (that's just when I started following along with them), and most of them around here seem to return to their exact same spot every day, so I think it'sw safe to say she's been living on these roofs for a long time.

Often observed with the same gulls

Ever since she first appeared in my pictures, she's been together with the same gull, who we called Gulliver. He's the one who first made the move from the chimney to the balcony, and the one who caused us to really start following along with the comings and goings of the flock.

Gulliver

Gulliver and Josefine are clearly a couple, doing everything toghether. When he's out looking for food, she patiently waits for him on top of our chimney, and while she's gone he patrols the balcony wall, and when they spot eachother in the distance they call out to eachother with excitement, loudly. Gulliver seems to be very protective over Josefine, chasing other gulls away from her and also guarding her while she's eating.

JMT80

I don't have any pictures of JMT80 (or Jean-Marie, as we call him) uploaded yet, but he's one of the few gulls who's occasionally allowed to visit the roof while Gulliver & Josefine are there. He received his ring in 2022 as a 5+, so he's at least in his 7th year currently, and breeds on the same island as Gulliver & Josefine.

He's really not afraid of a battle, and I think one of the reasons they tolerate him on "their" roof is because they don't have a choice.

JLN44

In her observations, some of the other neighborhood gulls their numbers have been mentioned as well, and vice versa.

One of them is JLN44, aka Julien, who's at least 9. He was here the first time Gulliver was on the roof. He has visited a handful of times together with Gulliver & Josefine since then, and he occasionally gets observed in the nearby park as well.

She has been to prison...

Amongst the observations of her, one of them was at the prison not far away from here. It's a popular spot for gulls since there's food to be had in the park next to it, but I'd like to believe she had to spend the night in jail for being a bad gull 🤭

Gulliver always keeping an eye on us.

Josefine looking at us from the side of the roof.

Gulliver and Josefine are a couple of, assumibly rather old, herring gulls that live on the roodtops in our street.

The ledge of our balcony is one of their favorite hangout spots, along with the chimney of the building across the street. We've been observing and following along with them for quite a while, and they've been enjoying watching us just as much.

Gulliver stopping by on the balcony for his daily visit. They've been incredibly talkative this summer, him and Josefine are shouting at each other all the time.

Josefine the herring gull. Typically Gulliver protects her while she's eating, but she can stand her ground too when needed and has chased plenty of gulls out of her territory.

Herring gull in flight. This picture was taken at a remote beach in Varanger, in the middle of the night during midnight sun season, even though the sun was blocked by clouds.

Part of a colony of thoudands of gulls, that spent their night on this beach in Hamningberg in Finnmark.

They blend in so well with their environment here as well. The rocks are different shades of gray, with some brown mosses and lichen growing on them and big white spots of bird droppings. Which is the perfect camouflage for seabirds that are white/gray as adults and beige/brown/white/gray as juveniles.

At first we thought the gulls were only on the grass, but when using the binoculars to look at the rocks on the beach in the background, we realized they were completely covered in gulls as well.

This was an impressive sight!

A large flock of gulls follows whales along the coastline in Hamningberg. Whales are often followed by seabirds who are looking to snatch some fish.

Thousands of gulls spent the night along these rocky beaches in Hamningberg (Båtsfjord municipality in Finnmark).

Most of them were young (< 4 years) herring gulls and great black-backed gulls, and at sea we also observed kittiwakes and adult herring gulls following the whales.

A large flock of gulls spent the night along these rocky beaches in Hamningberg (Båtsfjord municipality in Finnmark).

Most of them were young (< 4 years) herring gulls and great black-backed gulls, and at sea we also observed kittiwakes and adult herring gulls following the whales.

Thousands of gulls spent the night along these rocky beaches in Hamningberg (Båtsfjord municipality in Finnmark).

Most of them were young (< 4 years) herring gulls and great black-backed gulls, and at sea we also observed kittiwakes and adult herring gulls following the whales.

A large flock of gulls spent the night along these rocky beaches in Hamningberg (Båtsfjord municipality in Finnmark).

Most of them were young (< 4 years) herring gulls and great black-backed gulls, and at sea we also observed kittiwakes and adult herring gulls following the whales.

Thousands of gulls spent the night along these rocky beaches in Hamningberg (Båtsfjord municipality in Finnmark).

Most of them were young (< 4 years) herring gulls and great black-backed gulls, and at sea we also observed kittiwakes and adult herring gulls following the whales.

Thousands of gulls spent the night along these rocky beaches in Hamningberg (Båtsfjord municipality in Finnmark).

Most of them were young (< 4 years) herring gulls and great black-backed gulls, and at sea we also observed kittiwakes and adult herring gulls following the whales.

Josefine is a herring gull that's been spending time in our part of town for at least 9 years, and often visits our balcony together with her partner.

Josefine is a herring gull that's been spending time in our part of town for at least 9 years, and often visits our balcony together with her partner.

Silhouette of one of the neighborhood herring gulls standing guard on the neighbor's chimney. From up here, the gulls have a great overview over the park, and as soon as any food touches the ground there the entire flock flies down to try and grab a bite.

This particular chimney also has a great view on something else in the neighborhood, our otherwise rather private rooftop balcony and roof windows. As soon as there's movement in our flat, the neighborhood is notified by our two roof gulls, who move back and forth between our roof and the chimney across the street.

In this picture, the black blur in the foreground is created by the balcony wall in front of the lens, and I felt that black and white set the mood quite well.

Young herring gull ("gråmåke" in Norwegian) hanging out in the snow in Grünerløkka.

Gulliver in the evening light. He's a herring gull that often visits our balcony in the center of Oslo.

Gulliver, our loyal balcony friend, photographed in the first snow of the 2023-2024 winter season.

While he and his partner have been living on the chimneys in our street for years, our balcony only become their favorite hangout spot this winter. In fact, the day I took this picture was the first time he hung out at our balcony.

Similar photos

Gulliver, our loyal balcony friend, photographed in the first snow of the 2023-2024 winter season.

While he and his partner have been living on the chimneys in our street for years, our balcony only become their favorite hangout spot this winter. In fact, the day I took this picture was the first time he hung out at our balcony.

European Herring Gulls flying over our balcont in the snow.

Adult herring gull having opinions about the snow.

Gulliver, our loyal balcony friend, photographed in the first snow of the 2023-2024 winter season.

While he and his partner have been living on the chimneys in our street for years, our balcony only become their favorite hangout spot this winter. In fact, the day I took this picture was the first time he hung out at our balcony.