Going for walks to the nearby pond, I noticed that a strange creature appeared on it. It is the herring gull.

An interesting fact is that this bird from my country nestled in my country in the early 70's. These were mainly the northern regions of the country, primarily the coast.

Herring gull 500 km from the sea

So far, it nests mainly in port cities, on facilities, cutters or port buildings, generally close to the sea rich in food.

It turned out, however, that this species does not have to live by the sea at all. Because his position is in Silesia, in an industrial city.

What prompted the herring gull to travel so far?

Probably, as in the case of cormorants, the reason is the abundance of food. The pond where the herring gull resides is under the care of the Angling Association, it is regularly stocked and food is plentiful here. In addition, there is practically no competition here, sometimes 2 herons come.

The herring gull is quite large, its body length can exceed 65 cm. It has a white color with an ashen back, and black feathers with white spots on the back.

A strong, curved yellow beak with a red spot on the tip allows it to easily pull large fish specimens out of the water while flying.

It builds its nests on the ground, among grasses, often on islands. It can probably nest on an island in the local pond, and in addition, it is a nature reserve, and the island is not accessible to humans.

Young birds are covered with brown spots, they are incubated for about 28 days and become volatile after about 40 days. The species is under protection in Poland.