Some of you may remember

Love this story. Thanks for sharing it BlueBelle, and I agree, you should write a book.

When I had to evict jackdaws from my chimney, I got a sweep to come and put a bird guard over it - simpler than a cowl. Jackdaws went off in a huff!

My sister and BIL live on the seafront and had to have a cage fitted over their chimney to prevent the gulls nesting there. My sister dould not sit in the garden when there were babies as the parents kept swooping down on them.

Perhaps a cowl on top of the chimney would help, unless the nest is inside the chimney stack. We've had birds down our chimneys but managed to rescue and sort them out.

Not just children Milest0ne, I’d buy that book. Go on BlueBelle put pen to paper. The royalties would buy sardines for all.

Have you thought of publishing the story of Steven and Cedric ? There are many children who would love to read about them

Funnily enough I was just thinking about Steven the other day, as my resident gulls are tending their nest. The babies are funny aren't they, so gormless for their size. Near my flat is a taxi rank and a limping gull hangs out there and does very nicely thank you from the drivers who feel sorry for him. He's been there for several years.

My sister had seagulls nesting in her chimney, and although the chicks never fell down, the parents would attack her whenever she left the house, drawing blood on her head on one occasion. She ended up having to have spikes put up to deter them which was very expensive.

I don’t know I m trying cat food at the moment ( all I had in) but I ll get to the cheap store and stock up on the sardines tomorrow His mum( or dad keeps coming down but I have nt seen any feeding going on !!! And haven’t seen him eat yet !! when Steven came down and Sybil there were no parents around so they ate what I gave them

Oh yes, Steven, who I seem to recall was weaned on a diet of tinned sardines!

I look forward to following Cedric’s progress, Bluebelle. Will he enjoy sardines just as much? 🐟

👍🏼 Monica

Bluebelle yes I cn understand your problem. Ours was a 2 storey building and the chimney was on a gable end, so easy to access.

Monica I live in a three storey house that needs scaffolding to get to the roof I simply can’t afford that I m afraid

How lovely Bluebelle. I remember your adventures with Steven and Sybil so I know Cedric is in good hands. We have had a lot of birds down the chimney over our years in this house, but fortunately for us no babies so the only challenge has been catching them and releasing them.

Our house is also three storeys and very tall and the cost of putting a cowl on the chimney was prohibitive. However a couple of years ago we needed some roof repairs and while the scaffolding was up we were able to get it done, so no more birds in the living room!

Have you considered a cowl on the chimney?

What a lovely story BlueBelle

Why not get a sheet of wire mesh put over the top of your chimney?

When we had a house in France we twice had a young (adult) owl come down the chimney. It was a closed off one, so getting them out was difficult, but we did, openedthe kitchen door wide and they flew out. After the second one we got our roofer to put a sheet of wire mesh over he top and we had no more owls down the chimney.

Good luck with Cedric BlueBelle I hope he survives and is able to fly off into the wild blue yonder.

I remember the adventures of Steven Seagull.
Would Cedric like dried meal worms do you think?
Good luck with him.

What a lovely uplifting story Bluebelle. I do remember Steven 😍

I have a few gull visitors during the winter months, living not far from the coast. One only has one leg and I’m always so pleased to see him return each year. He copes very well with his disability.

Seagulls come back to the same place they were born Arewethere so they fly from the Atlantic to my chimney though memory/ instinct I m not sure which but they arrive back into the same nesting place each year unless it’s gone and they then find the nearest place So these seagulls are either Steven’s parents or Steven himself grown up

I have taken in Seagulls, Magpies, Pigeons and blackbirds over the years. I put them in a large bird cage in the back garden on a table under a tree and kept my eye on them, I added a bowl of water, some bread crumbs and some of those bird seed sticks. When I see another bird of the same breed hanging around the cage, I open the cage and off it goes. The pigeon was attacked by a cat and lost it's tail feathers and I kept that pigeon in the large bird cage in the kitchen until they grew back, it was about 7 weeks and when I let it out off it flew and then came back and sat on my fence. I called it Molly.

We once had two white doves come to live on our loft window ledge, the neighbours were complaining about the mess they were making so we opened the window and they came into the loft. I caught them in a laundry basket and we took them to Blackpool, let them go and when we got back home to West Yorkshire, they were back sitting on the loft window ledge. In the end some friends were going to Devon for a holiday and took them with them and we never saw them again. I still have the photos of the white doves on our window ledge. I am the bird woman of West Yorkshire.

I remember Steven too! Good luck with Cedric 🤞

I remember your seagull adventures well. I wonder what it is about your chimney that entices seagulls?? Lucky there wasn't a fire 😕