Burgess goes wild: Gulls

Gulls in winter

by Dave Clark, Ornithologist

The abundance and species of birds change with the seasons and at Burgess Park this is as true as anywhere in the country. Take a special look at the lake during the winter where the number of gulls and cormorants increase.

We commonly call these grey/black and white birds – seagulls – but they are actually coastal and inland birds and consist of several species, look out for these four different birds during the winter:

Black headed Gull: The smallest one – look out for the red bill and legs.
Common Gull: Not as common! as the others, a bit bigger with a white head
Herring Gull: Much bigger with a large yellow beak and pink legs
Lesser Black-backed Gull: Like a Herring Gull but black rather than grey wings and yellow legs