Country diary: as temperatures rise, Mediterranean gulls are all loved-up

Living on the south coast, I find myself listening out for an unusual harbinger of spring – the courtship cries of amorous Mediterranean gulls. Though resident year-round, they are much less vocal than other gull species in winter, and it isn’t until the beginning of the breeding season that I start noticing their distinctive mewing as they display over my garden.

By mid-March there were reported to be 836 individuals in the roost at West Hayling local nature reserve, but when I visited their ardour had been dampened by plummeting temperatures, sleet and snow – the shelterless shingle bund walls abandoned by all but a dozen or so hardy individuals.

Three weeks on from the big freeze, I have returned to find that courtship is finally in full swing; however, with numbers still in double digits, it is evident that many have already paired up and dispersed to breed elsewhere in the harbour.

Black-headed gulls now dominate land, sea and sky. Hundreds jostle for space on the islands, bowing and posturing to one another, copulating and laying claim to nest sites. Despite the cacophony of cries, the Mediterranean gulls are easily audible, the upward inflection of their calls making them sound as though they are in a state of perpetual surprise.

Contrary to expectation, black-headed gulls have chocolate-brown heads – it’s Mediterranean gulls that sport inky-black hoods. As the birds fly overhead, pursuing potential mates in a game of aerial kiss-chase, I’m able to distinguish the Mediterraneans by their pure white primary feathers, the edges translucent when backlit by the setting sun. (The black-headed gulls’ underwings are duller, the off-white of greying laundry, with smudgy black wingtips.)

I eventually spot a pair out on the lagoon. Seemingly oblivious to the chaos surrounding them, they are paddling side by side, necks arched and bills rubbing together. Spinning round to face each other, they take turns to dip their heads under the water. Then one bird, presumably the female, lowers its shoulders and adopts a soliciting stance. As she gapes, the wooing male regurgitates a pellet of food, tenderly depositing it into her mouth.