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Seagulls and freshly cut silage

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  • 05-08-2010 2:14pm
    #1
    ifconfig
    Registered Users Posts: 880 ✭✭✭


    I wasn't sure which Boards.ie forum was the best to ask this question in - to satisfy my curiosity....


    I live inland in Mayo near Claremorris in a fairly rural area with surrounding farms. One or two of the surrounding fields have been cut for silage in recent days. I noticed a lot of gulls coming in along with the grey hooded crows and rooks within hours of the silage having been cut and piled before being baled.

    What is it that attracts gulls to freshly cut silage ?

    I noticed starlings in my garden after having it cut maybe 2-3 weeks ago alright but our lawn is obviously seeded with domestic grass seed.
    These gulls would be coming in on land which has hay/farmland grass, etc.
    I'd love to know about how the gulls signal to each other that there is something worth scavenging for on the piled silage fields.

    --ifc


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    #2
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    Its just like Gulls following the plough. They feed on worms and grubs in the exposed earth.


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    #3
    artieanna
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 1,139 ✭✭✭artieanna


    This might sound daft but....How do they know that the land is ploughed so far inland from the coast??

    Claremorris would be a good 40/50 miles to the coast as the crow flies..


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    #4
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    Gulls (and not Sea Gulls as many call them) don't necessarily live by the sea. Many may go their whole lives never having seen a sea. It's easier to stand on the ground and pick worms and insects than to fly low over the sea and scoop fish out:p

    From a height they can see a food source many miles away.


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    #5
    artieanna
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 1,139 ✭✭✭artieanna


    Teagan Orange Ice-skate wrote: »
    Gulls (and not Sea Gulls as many call them) don't necessarily live by the sea. Many may go their whole lives never having seen a sea. It's easier to stand on the ground and pick worms and insects than to fly low over the sea and scoop fish out:p

    From a height they can see a food source many miles away.

    I never knew that, always thought they were SEA gulls and lived by the SEA... Thanks for that Teagan Orange Ice-skate

    Now I have more questions:rolleyes:sorry:(
    Where do they nest inland? I very rarely see them around Why?


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    #6
    ifconfig
    Registered Users Posts: 880 ✭✭✭ifconfig


    Srameen. Many thanks for the reply and the info.

    I , like the other poster, probably incorrectly assumed that those gulls had come inland from the sea.

    Makes sense from what you say now.

    -ifc


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    #7
    Zzippy
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 14,166 Mod ✭✭✭✭Zzippy


    artieanna wrote: »
    I never knew that, always thought they were SEA gulls and lived by the SEA... Thanks for that Srameen

    Now I have more questions:rolleyes:sorry:(
    Where do they nest inland? I very rarely see them around Why?

    They nest in great numbers on some islands on inland lakes - Lough Mask is not far from Claremorris and I know of one island there that usually has a couple of hundred nests. Safe from foxes and rats I guess...


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    #8
    Sigma Force
    Registered Users Posts: 5,132 ✭✭✭Sigma Force


    Been meaning for ages to post this question as well, we're inland as well and thought it very odd when I saw them first they head to a farmers field right across from us. There are rivers within 7 miles of us, never dawned on me that gulls don't always mean sea gulls.


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    #9
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    Rivers have nothing to do with it.


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    #10
    LostCovey
    Registered Users Posts: 1,717 ✭✭✭LostCovey


    Teagan Orange Ice-skate wrote: »
    Rivers have nothing to do with it.

    That's a bit tetchy Teagan Orange Ice-skate. And inaccurate too, if you don't mind me saying so. Plenty of gulls breed on islands in our larger rivers.

    LostCovey


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    #11
    LisaO
    Registered Users Posts: 462 ✭✭LisaO


    Where do they feed at other times, ie, when there is no silage being cut? Do they all scavenge at the local rubbish tip?


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    #12
    LostCovey
    Registered Users Posts: 1,717 ✭✭✭LostCovey


    LisaO wrote: »
    Where do they feed at other times, ie, when there is no silage being cut? Do they all scavenge at the local rubbish tip?

    Yes although the newer more secure tips are less accessible for them, with marked effects on populations. They also feed on lakes on hatching insects (like mayflies) and in pasture, systematically working through cow pats etc. They also figure out things like when to drop in for scraps after school lunch breaks.

    Gulls are above all, survivors!

    LostCovey


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