There's a lot said, and written, about gulls being pests, particularly when you live near the coast. There are frequent tales of ice creams, chips and even burgers in baps stolen by these vast and fearless birds.

In this extraordinary tale of a fascination, even an obsession, with investigating this bird, Tim Dee shares his experience of getting alongside and becoming a gull-watcher. He tells of investigating rubbish dumps, exploring how the birds are represented in literature, and also what they can teach us about our evolving landscape, climate change and the natural world.

It's clear that gulls are intelligent and wily (and large gulls can live for 30 years). They have learned, for example, that rubbish dumps don't operate on Sundays - though they don't yet understand Bank Holidays.

They may need to move on from dumps in the coming years, though, as our food waste is increasingly recycled rather than making up landfill. Apparently 'food waste is dangerous to world health. Organic matter entering landfills is believed to add significantly to global methane emissions and could be an important contributor to climate change. Recycling our junked food is better for us.'

This is a book dense with facts - I've found myself underlining page after page, eager to commit the fascinating facts to memory. He also has a beautiful turn of phrase in describing the birds and their behaviours, and relating his own adventures in learning more about them. And it's amusing too, picturing him with the gull-watchers in the dumps.