Finn’s relationship with seagulls reminds me of Ernie’s relationship with pigeons. Ernie as in, of course, Ernie and Bert.
So, the other day it came as no surprise when it took 25 minutes to get him away from the gulls hanging out in the St. Peter’s Square parking lot.
With every moment serving as a learning opportunity, Finn has a question for our FOBs.
What’s up with the tags on the seagull in the 1st photo? Once injured, treated, and released? Some kind of seagull tracking program?
Not to take away from Finn’s question….but, the 2nd photo leaves me with a very important question.
Just how concerned should I be that Thatcher went on to eat the rest of the ice cream in the cup that the seagull seems to be enjoying in the background of photo #2? Totally missed that while it was happening and was horrified to notice it later in the evening while downloading pics. Sorry, Thatch. Gross.
The 3rd photo is simply because it cracks me up to watch Finn waving to seagulls.
To digress….about the pigeons. That reminds me that I probably owe an apology to the other diners who had dinner with us just prior to our seagull session. Finn may or may not have thrown a rogue french fry to a pigeon who then attempted to fly away with it…under the cover of Latitude’s newly enclosed outdoor eating area. Said pigeon may or may not have circled dangerously close to a few heads before flying into the plastic enclosure before circling again and finally finding its way back to open air. The pigeon was fine, I promise. The diners…possibly less than amused. Who could blame them? Bygones.
Good Morning Gloucester 
If you search GMG for “seagull banding”, you will see a posting from 8/20/2010 regarding this. There are several active seagull banding programs. The one that you took a picture of looks like Dr. Julie Ellis’ program. Here is a link to her blog:
https://gullsofappledore.wordpress.com/
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Adore the photo of Finn waving at the gulls!
I think the gull may be part of a research program that is underway on the Island of Appledore in Maine. Green bands denote Herring Gulls and black bands are used for Great Black-backed Gulls. I imagine they would love to hear from you, here is one email address but not sure if it is the best for reporting sightings: https://gullsofappledore.wordpress.com
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Gulls as well as other migratory birds (yes gulls do migrate in a sense) have long been “tagged” on the wing, leg and with dyes. Some are banded for research and others are banded to track their movements as they pertain to pollution of fresh water supplies and/or the spread of infectious diseases. The range of research and data collection is quite extensive once you begin to look deeper. Typically the band can be identified only if the gull (bird) has been captured (in a net or on the end of a fishing line) or has died and is found on the ground. Usually there is a Tag number with a request to contact the “tagger” with the location and date. In the old days the Tag had a telephone number. These days it’s usually a website to log into and report. Sometimes other information is requested but in reality you can’t put all that much on the tag. Most tagged birds are never found so the researcher depends on every contact that can be made. So if you do find one and can read the tag (don’t intentionally go out and capture a gull though) the researcher will appreciate receiving the information.
If the Gull is from one of Dr. Ellis’ menagerie, it is more than likely for the study of infectious diseases. (just a guess on my part)
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Nichole,
OMG I don’t want to alarm you. I missed the part about your son eating the ice cream! I wouldn’t worry too much. In my youth I ate much worse and managed to survive with only a minor loss of common sense. My own daughter when she was young used to share her ice cream and other food with the local 2 and 4 legged critters. She’s now a mom and panicking over her 2 year old doing similar things. I would just watch him and monitor the situation. Every kid puts an amazing array of “stuff” in their mouths and some of it gets digested. I’m guessing it helps build up antibodies.
If there was anything that would really be an issue you’d probably be seeing it by now (i.e. green skin, feathers growing out of his neck, clucking sounds, etc.)
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Not going to lie….I panicked for a second. Thanks for all of the great information!
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Tough kid, probably plays hockey 🙂
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These gulls are like a bloodhound when it comes to finding goodies! 🙂 Dave & Kim:-)
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