Gutsy gull
I was getting gas at the Hess station on Centre Street this afternoon when I heard a gull squawking really loudly and repeatedly. It's not something you tend to hear around there; I looked up to see a large hawk lazily going in a circle just above some trees next to the station - and the gull crazily heading right for it. The hawk dodged, the gull came out the other side, and it went after the hawk again.
The gull kept doing this, even as the hawk showed no apparent interest in a gull sandwich. If anything, it seemed merely annoyed that some lunatic kept coming at it when all it was trying to do was enjoy the late-afternoon thermals. The hawk began climbing higher in a spiral; the seagull rose even higher - and then dive-bombed the hawk, which again easily dodged it. Then it started lazily moving toward Roslindale and finally, the gull broke off the attack.
Comments
When Gulls Attack
I've seen this a lot of this sort of thing out in Waltham - only with mockingbirds attacking hawks. Mockingbirds are awfully territorial and will attack squirrels, cats, raptors, even humans if they feel that someone's invaded their space. Don't know how territorial gulls are, but perhaps the hawk was a little too close to the gull's family for comfort.
That behavior is less to do
That behavior is less to do with territoriality and more to do with mobbing raptors (like what crows do with owls): if you keep harrassing the raptor, eventually it'll give up and go somewhere else.
What's surprising in this case is that it was a single gull; usually they only do it in flocks.