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At Lake Lothing Lowestoft Suffolk small numbers of adult & 1st Winter Herring Gulls often use the jetty posts for loafing spots during the day. More often than not the birds never take part in any feeding activities. During a break in the rain on 2nd January I visited this site & as on Sunday last, an adult winter Herring Gull was paddling in the shallows at low tide & by immersing it’s head & front part of the body would come up with a Green Shore Crab Carcinus maenas, known by Sea Anglers as a peeler crab due to the removal of it’s shell during growth. The bird would then fly the short distance to one of the jetties & parade up & down its length with the crab wriggling in its bill. The Gull did not attempt to eat the crab but would after a fashion drop the creature back into the water.
Why this bird exhibited this sort of behaviour is beyond me. I can only assume that the crab was not soft enough for eating or was it just the feeding instinct taking over.
The bird was not a youngster unpracticed in the art of food gathering. Perhaps some eccentricity to pass the time of day?
I look forward to comments
CJ
At Lake Lothing Lowestoft Suffolk small numbers of adult & 1st Winter Herring Gulls often use the jetty posts for loafing spots during the day. More often than not the birds never take part in any feeding activities. During a break in the rain on 2nd January I visited this site & as on Sunday last, an adult winter Herring Gull was paddling in the shallows at low tide & by immersing it’s head & front part of the body would come up with a Green Shore Crab Carcinus maenas, known by Sea Anglers as a peeler crab due to the removal of it’s shell during growth. The bird would then fly the short distance to one of the jetties & parade up & down its length with the crab wriggling in its bill. The Gull did not attempt to eat the crab but would after a fashion drop the creature back into the water.
Why this bird exhibited this sort of behaviour is beyond me. I can only assume that the crab was not soft enough for eating or was it just the feeding instinct taking over.
The bird was not a youngster unpracticed in the art of food gathering. Perhaps some eccentricity to pass the time of day?
I look forward to comments
CJ