A hotel in southern Labrador has welcomed back its most unusual guest — a visitor that never checks in, but is always sure to take all of his meals on the premises.

Harry, a herring gull, has been a regular summer visitor at Riverlodge Hotel in Mary's Harbour for the past eight years.

"In the spring one day, I was here in the dining room and every now and then, I could hear [tapping]," said hotel manager Barb Rumbolt.

"I said, 'Who's knocking, I wonder?' and when I looked, here was the seagull, out knocking on the patio door."

Harry may be friendly, but he's not always polite. When the restaurant is full, Harry knocks on the glass patio doors with his beak until he gets a meal.

Rumbolt, who brought out a basket of dinner rolls for Harry while discussing the gull's food preferences, said there are some things the bird will not touch.

"He won't eat anything that's orange in colour. He won't eat anything like carrots or oranges or turnip — we've tried all that," she said.

The hotel staff is not actually sure whether Harry is male or female, and some days they're not sure whether a visiting gull on the patio is Harry or a friend.

Nonetheless, Rumbolt said there has been only one gull that taps incessantly until he gets his fill.