Thursday, 22 August 2019

Scots woman visited twice daily by seagull she formed unusual friendship with 10 years ago

Maggie Burns-Bellingham, 71, was moved when she saw the injured bird hopping around her garden on one leg, back in 2012.


Arthur Vundla
Lynn Love
10:35, 21 AUG 2019

A widow told how she formed a friendship with a seagull nearly a decade ago - which visits her twice a day.

Maggie Burns-Bellingham, 71, was moved when she saw the injured bird hopping around her garden on one leg, back in 2012.

She named him Mr Seagull , and began hiding Nurofen inside bits of chicken from M&S to nurse him back to health.

But the brazen seagull hung around after he recovered - and for the past seven years, he has visited twice a day.

Maggie said: "When Mr Seagull first came, he kept trying to walk using one leg.

"I felt sorry for him and I just wanted to help.

"I ended up giving him pieces of chicken and hid painkillers inside them, and I did that for a couple of months.

"He would arrive in the morning and come back at teatime.

"He then went away at the end of June and came back in March - that must be their mating season.

"He came back the following year and both legs were on the ground."

Stunned Maggie, who owned a bridal shop before retiring, told her friends - who refused to believe her.

She added: "No one could believe it was him but it was. 
"It felt so nice to see him at his best.

"I would have not normally fed a seagull but he was special.

"He also needed help."

Since her husband Frank died 12 years ago, from Alzheimer's disease, Maggie has lived alone in a cottage in Perth .

She believes Frank would be proud of her friendship with Mr Seagull.



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