There's no such thing as a seagull

Laura Ross

Communications Officer, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

A couple of months ago, our Site Manager, Paul Tinsley-Marshall, was impressed to find an expertly-labelled field sketch of a gull in one off our bird hides. The young artist hadn't fallen into the 'seagull' trap; a colloquial name for a group of different gull species. We wanted to trace the owner of the drawing, so shared her sketch on Facebook. We were delighted when her granddad got in touch. 

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Esmay and I am 12 years old. I live in Hastings and I am in Year 7 at Ark Alexandra Academy (William Parker). I have many hobbies and one of these is birdwatching, which I mostly do at Rye Harbour.

Congratulations on your expertly drawn and labelled field sketch. Can you tell us how you came to produce it?

I was in the hide at the nature reserve, as I had an INSET day at school. I saw a Swan with some babies and I wanted to compare the baby Swans to the baby gulls that we have nesting on our roof at home, so I drew a gull. My grandad is always correcting people if they 'seagull', as he says there is no such bird!

What do you love about nature and being outdoors?

I enjoy getting fresh air and being outdoors in general, but I mostly like hearing the birds sing.

Do you have a favourite species that you hope to see when you visit Rye Harbour?

I actually have two favourite species and they are both at the nature reserve. They are Skylark and Woodpigeon. Grandad thinks I am a lucky charm as we always seem to see and hear Skylark when we are out walking together. I also see Woodpigeon at home and my nickname for these is Peachy because of their chest colour.

What would you say to other kids that might think bird watching is a bit boring?

I would say 'you never know if you like something, until you try it' - because they might!