ARRIVAL OF MIGHTY FULMAR FOOLS BIRDWATCHING CHILDREN

NO GULL: Fulmar is our closest bird to an albatross

- Stuart Winter

A FAMILY beach picnic serenaded by lapping waves and lilting gull cries was hardly the time or place for a half-term lesson on seabird ecology - and my three grandchildren's eyes began glazing over as I started lecturing them on why our most maligned birds should be loved not loathed.

Mention of the dreaded S-word had put me in a flap after the trio witnessed a holidaymaker being relieved of a doughnut by a demonic creature with evil eyes and razor-sharp beak - a 'seagull!' they said