The Incredigull Journey WHAT does a seagull do when their home – York’s former rubbish tip – closes down?
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hey head for the seaside...or at least that’s what Steven the seagull has done. Steven is one of about 2,500 gulls which were tagged at the Harewood Whin landfill site near Rufforth in 2015, before it was shut after the construction of a new incinerator for York and North Yorkshire’s refuse. Experts from a bird charity wanted to find where they went afterwards. This gull has been discovered living happily in Robin Hood’s Bay, a former fishing village near Whitby, by a chef at the village’s fish and chip shop, Maid Marion Fisheries. He was traced back to Harewood Whin through the yellow tag on his leg, which read ‘5V4B’. Other York gulls are said to have been traced as far away as the Barents Sea and Morocco.
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Chippy Chat & Fast Food Magazine • December November 2021
The chef’s research showed the bird had been ringed at Harewood Whin on March 20, 2015, aged three, having been caught with a ‘cannon net’ along with other gulls which were caught and ringed over a three-year period from 2015. The shop said in an information panel: “Harewood Whin was one of the decreasing numbers of landfill sites in the UK where it was possible to operate for the catching and ringing of gulls. The landfill site has now closed and no longer attracts large numbers of gulls. “One of the main reasons for carrying out this work was to examine if and how the movements of gulls altered with the closure of the landfill site, which used to be a major food source throughout the year. To date, there have been over 3,000 sightings reported, from as far away as the Barents Sea and Morocco.” They said this was Steven’s first sighting since being ringed. Do you have seagulls around your shop? Email austen@chippychat.co.uk
Chippy Chat & Fast Food Magazine • December 2021
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