SEETHING locals in a picturesque seaside town say it has been covered in bird poo.
Residents in Lowestoft, says thousands of kittiwakes – a red-listed species of gull – have returned to their old nests in the town from the specially-built coastal roosts.
The kittiwakes have left shopkeepers spending hours cleaning up bird droppings and pavements splattered with mounds of ‘stinky' mess.
Special and 26-feet tall ‘hotels' off the coast were created for the birds which are one of the few urban colonies present in the UK.
However a kittiwake ‘conflict' has broken out after almost 2,000 of the birds returned to their usual nests in the coastal town.
Numbers of the gulls have skyrocketed in recent years – up from 650 in 2021.
As kittiwakes usually return to where they hatched, the amount of flocking to Lowestoft to settle during the spring and summer has risen.
One shop owner on the high street said his team can spend up to two hours each day cleaning the mess left by the kittiwakes on his windows and canopy.
Shop owner Mr Vino fumed: “It stinks and it's making a big mess – a few customers came into the shop last week and complained about the smell”.
There has been 40 per cent global population decline of the birds since 1975 as a consequence of reduced fish stocks caused by overfishing and climate change.
The kittiwakes first colonized the piers at the entrance to the town's port in the 1950s and Lowestoft is now home to one of the UK's most successful urban colonies despite global declines.
As well as ledges on the side of buildings, two purpose-built hotels for kittiwakes have been constructed off the town's coast.
However Shirley and Christopher Wyartt, visiting Lowestoft from , said they had noticed the mess around town.
Mrs Wyartt said: “It is just left on the ground – it is an eyesore”.
Tony Shreeve has lived opposite the BT building, which has nesting shelves for the birds on the side, for the last 10 years.
He said: “They are a bit hooligan-like – they tear the place apart and go through the bins.”
However, William Irvine – who has recently moved to Carlton Colville – marvelled at the site of them.
He said: “It is a gorgeous sight to see – they are very pretty birds.”
Dick Houghton, of the Lowestoft Seagull Action Group, said the first kittiwake returned on February 1 – and the rest followed ‘en masse'.
Mr Houghton, a fan of kittiwakes, said: “They've increased in numbers by setting up on shop fronts and bedroom windows, “They crap over the side of the nest which generally lands on the pavement.
“They feed entirely on fish and small sea creatures – the stink is the smell of rotting fish. They've become more in your face and in your nose.”
However Mr Houghton explained that kittiwake chicks will usually return to where they were hatched following spending the winter months in the North Atlantic.
He added: “People get the wrong impression – the hotels were built to provide opportunities for the birds to nest otherwise the the wind turbines could kill them.
“People have assumed the hotels were there to take birds from the town – which is the ideal eventually.
“It takes one or two brave ones to try it out before the rest follow.
“But they've really come back in force now and it is more noticeable.
“If they were hatched in the town, they'd tend to return there. The more birds we have, the more mess.”
A spokesman for East Suffolk Council said: “Businesses, and people living in Lowestoft, who are host to kittiwakes are playing a vital role in protecting vulnerable seabirds.
“However, we do appreciate that there are challenges associated with housing kittiwakes, including mess.
“East Suffolk Council continues to coordinate regular pressure washing of public areas during the nesting season, to support local people by managing the mess from kittiwakes and other birds.
“The Lowestoft Kittiwake Partnership has also been supporting businesses with advice on managing the impact of urban gulls.”
