Walking past the Holt Oval (cnr. Beaurepaire Cres. & Southern Cross Dve.) yesterday, about 45 minutes before dark, we were surprised to see a flock of probably 80 – 100
Silver Gulls bunkered down on the grass as if roosting for the evening. However, a quick check a couple of hours later indicated they had moved on. I can’t recall seeing Sea....oops ... Silver Gulls there in over 30 years.
Suddenly, a half-grown Golden Labrador came gambolling along the footpath some 25 metres ahead of its owner and, when it caught sight of the gulls, went bounding across
the grass towards them, tail wagging with mischievous glee. As it drew to within 20 metres of the flock, a group (probably better described as a phalanx) of say, 20 birds, moved out to confront the dog, bills agape and extreme upright stance, walking tall,
if you would, while making a growling kind of cry, hard to describe, roughly something like
arrgh, arrrgah. In the face of all this the pup came to a standstill.
Then the gulls demonstrated an interesting extension of their defensive behaviour, two groups of maybe six birds each moved out from either side of the phalanx describing
a semicircular path towards the rear of the dog as if to outflank it and perhaps attack from behind. The discombobulated puppy dog quit wagging its tail, whirled about and galloped back to its owner as the picket melded back into the flock and the general
ripple of consternation that had permeated the gathering dwindled away.
John Layton
Holt.
