Family of Black-Headed Gulls

Artist Notes

I love spending an hour or so on a particular bench located on the dike near Ballum on the island Ameland in the Netherlands. There is a seagull colony nearby that will entertain you with their cries and endless activity. Last year I decided to paint the Sandwich Tern after I saw it there. Many, many breeding pairs can be observed. Seagulls and terns come and go with food for their young. From time to time you can see a seagull steal food from one of the terns – hoodlums!

While the young seagulls are developed enough to leave the nest right away they will stay on or near the nest until they can fly. They spend the first week safely under their mother’s wings.

When I was eleven years old I spent two months at a vacation camp on the island Schiermonnikoog. I remember that every Sunday morning we would receive a boiled seagull egg with breakfast. Clearly a long time ago!

Sea thrift on the dikes of Ameland, with a Painted Lady.