Yellowknife (May 12/04) - In case you're wondering whether you've wandered onto the set of some long-lost Alfred Hitchcock sequel, there actually is an explanation behind the siege of seagulls over Yellowknife the last few weeks.

Bird expert Bob Bromley said the gulls normally have many more options open to them when they make their annual migration back to the North come spring. There just aren't that many this year.

"Normally, as they arrive, the water's opened up and then they disperse," said Bromley. "This year, they're sitting around because they can't do that."

This year's unseasonably cold spring has kept almost every lake around Yellowknife frozen over with several feet of ice, preventing these shorebirds from building nests, said Bromley.

But the always attractive Yellowknife city landfill and the nearby open water on Jackfish Lake is calling gulls from far and wide, many more than normal, Bromley estimated.

Usually there are about 600 gulls congregated in the Yellowknife area this time of year, but their numbers are "well over that" now, said Bromley.

He reckons their frantic flapping and jostling for space will have them so worn out by the time the lakes do open up, that they will be too pooped to breed.

They normally begin building nests in late May or early June, said Bromley.

"They're just burning off their fat," said Bromley.

"Their egg production will probably be a bust this year."

The dump isn't the only thing attracting them to the city in huge numbers, said Bromley.

Because it's colder than usual, roosting on rocks by the shore is not a welcoming prospect. But black rooftops, which soak up warmth from the sun and stay warm long after sunset, provide an ideal place to roost.

"I imagine there will be a lot of whitewash up there this summer," said Bromley.

With so many gulls flying around it could be assumed that every house, car and wide-brimmed hat is a target when these birds feel the urge to let loose.

A check with local car washes in the city proved somewhat inconclusive, but William Cheng, manager of the Monkey Tree gas bar and car wash, said he had a lot of customers on Saturday.

Nonetheless, he couldn't specifically say how many drivers came in to rid their car roofs of unsightly bird droppings.

"Some of them wash for that purpose, but mostly it's for the dirt," said Cheng.

Developer Ray Decorby said he hasn't noticed any excessive amounts of seagull droppings on any of his properties, but he has certainly noticed the birds.

"I don't have any seagull problems, but I sure see a lot of them," said Decorby on Monday.

"I heard them last night, and I thought of that Alfred Hitchcock movie, 'The Birds.'"

Yellowknifer photographed hundreds of seagulls roosting at Akaitcho Hall over the weekend, which has a black rooftop.

Carolyn Relf, who works as a geologist at the C.S. Lord Geoscience Centre next door, said she hasn't noticed any gulls roosting atop her building, but figures even if they were, it's not necessarily a bad thing.

"All that shit will probably help plug up our leaky roof," said Relf.