Spring arrived in the form of the seagull flying low into the teeth of the gale. Though a storm was engulfing the whole country, and damaging gusts whipped the wintry river white, the black-headed gull flying upstream towards us was in its glorious breeding plumage. All winter, this bird has had a white head, but in the past few weeks its “hood” has taken on the dark chocolate plumage we all know and love.