The commotion drew a small crowd. The scene, the entrance to a Morrison’s supermarket; the actors, a little girl and a herring gull. The little girl was willingly sharing her sausage roll with the herring gull; and the herring gull was willingly accepting the largesse. What is as striking as a herring gull? With a back the colour of the North Sea on a gentle day, a breast and head white as an angel, a polka dot of tail feathers, pink feet and a yellow beak with a single red spot, a herring gull always catches the eye. Add to this a raucous, yet somehow deeply moving cry, and a patent intelligence, and every herring gull sighting becomes an occasion. Once sticking to coasts, herring gulls increasingly spend their autumns and winters inland. Having long learned to follow human fishing