WE have been staying in London for a few days and yesterday (at the time of writing), I took a walk into Green Park at lunchtime. It was dry and warm and a funny big yellow thing was in the sky, somebody said it was called the sun. It’s been away for a long time.

The park is lovely at present, as are all the royal parks, the daffodils are just coming out and there was a real feeling of spring in the air.

I sat on a park bench as a black headed gull strolled past, in summer plumage, with a ...er... dark brown head.

In fact, the head is white for much of the year outside of the breeding season. The species was described and named by the great Carl Linnaeus in 1766, who is known as the father of taxonomy, so we can’t get too sniffy and it does look black from any distance.

The black headed gull is the commonest of our gulls and is a dainty, smaller bird, especially when considered next to the larger, aggressive herring and lesser black backed gulls.

The black headed gulls nest in colonies to afford protection for chicks, which does promote a lot of squabbling and noise. The scientific name for the species is “ridibundus” which means “laughing”, derived from its call. Each to their own, I guess.

Elsewhere, the unmistakable signs of spring are all over the park, with hawthorn buds starting to open and some blossom on show. Hazel catkins, often called lamb’s tails, are also well advanced. These long, dangling yellow-green male flowers of the hazel tree are laden with pollen.

They provide an early pollen source for bees and will eventually turn into lovely hazelnuts. They are all part of nature’s bounty.