A fish and chip shop on the seafront in Largs, North Ayrshire, has found itself at the centre of a national conversation about Scotland’s seagull problem thanks to a low-tech but highly effective deterrent – a hawk kite.
The Fish Works, owned by Tiffany and Ross Irvin, has been inundated with media requests in recent weeks, with appearances on Clyde 1, Channel 5 News and BBC Radio Scotland’s drivetime programme. The sudden attention follows Scotland’s first-ever Seagull Summit, where local councils were allocated £100,000 each by the Scottish Government to fund deterrent measures.
“When Clyde 1 called us, we didn’t even know the summit was happening,” said Tiffany. “But because we’ve been using a hawk kite for years, they asked if we’d talk about it. Ross has now become something of a seagull correspondent!”
The hawk kite, a simple device resembling a bird of prey attached to a long pole, is used by staff whenever gulls start to linger along the promenade. “It looks a bit daft at first,” said Tiffany, “but it works brilliantly. The gulls just don’t like it and they do stay away.”
While the restaurant itself doesn’t suffer heavily from gulls – its canopy keeps most swoopers at bay – the problem arises when visitors take their food outside.
“There’s a point in the season when gulls get more aggressive, probably when they’re having their young,” Tiffany explained. “That’s when we bring out the kite more often. You can’t leave it up all the time, or they get used to it.”
For Tiffany, however, the real issue isn’t the birds, it’s human behaviour. “As Ross told BBC Radio Scotland, 90% of the problem is the people and not the seagulls. If people feed them, they get worse. They asked Ross how councils should spend the money and he said investment in more signage and education around not feeding the gulls instead of just deterrents.”
Local fishermen have even told the couple that gulls are losing their natural instincts. “They’re evolving to scavenge chips on the promenade instead of catching fish out at sea,” said Tiffany. “It’s a bit sad when you think about it.”
Despite the serious point, there’s no denying that the hawk kite has become a hit with both staff and customers. “Some of the team love taking it up and down the promenade, others feel a bit silly, but customers are always filming and laughing.”
Ross has suggested upgrading from a kite to a real hawk, but Tiffany was quick to say no: “We’ve got kids, we don’t have time to look after a hawk as well!”
