About a hundred seagulls living in the area of Marienpoelstraat in the Dutch town of Leiden are driving the residents crazy.
The birds make so much noise that residents cannot sit in their gardens in the evening, which is a true hardship during the current heatwave striking the country. It is also impossible to leave windows open in the night due to the excess noise made by the gulls.
Some residents have placed wires on their roofs in order to prevent gulls from building nests there. However, there are enough roofs around without anti-gull protection for the birds to nest in great numbers. It is also difficult to prevent the birds from nesting on flat roofs.
According to bird expert Frits van der Sluis, the nuisance from the birds is the most noticeable this time of year. The baby gulls are not confident with flying or leaving the nest and parents are nervous and vocalizing warnings to the babies almost constantly. The baby gulls should all fledge within two to three weeks and the nuisance for the most part should be over.
In Leiden there are also large gull populations around Drie Octoberstraat and some spots in the city center.
