The Crying of Seagulls

All birds is courting, all birds is nesting... and that includes seagulls.

The search for new homes and nesting sites has driven the gulls further up the hill to our Row. Much clattering about on rooves and chimneys; much standing in pairs on chimney pots. Much noise making.

It's a sunny afternoon in the garden. Listening to the gulls drives The Old Man crazy. He does not want them settling on our roof. And I'm not surprised. So he rushes up to the house and ... growls like a dog. This is a common warding off sound from The Old Man. It doesn't bother the seagulls. But it does trigger a chorus from our neighbours' pointers, dobermans, jack russells, and various.

I am my mother's daughter and I rush up the garden purposefully, yelling "Oi!" This dislodges them for a while. They come back in a bit, and I have to "Oi!" again. And so on.

By now several would-be gull couples are trying their luck all along the rooves of the Row... and their mingled cries to each other run the gamut of babykins-feed-me, Maori war chant, and various oddly erotic choruses.

All in all, a noisy spring afternoon in the garden.