Injured seagull photographed with arrow embedded in head in Elgin

A seagull has been photographed with an arrow embedded in its head in Elgin.

The injured bird is said to still be flying around, after it was spotted at the Moray town's Cooper Park on Tuesday.

It was photographed by Lesley Morrison, who told the BBC Scotland news website: "It was normal looking, until it turned around. Then it flew off."

The Scottish SPCA said the incident was "very concerning", and warned it was a criminal offence.

Keen nature photographer Mrs Morrison said: "I have always got the camera just in case.

"It was there for ages walking about, pecking away. Then I saw this sold-looking arrow - it was well-embedded.

"It seemed perfect if it did not have this in its head. It must have missed the important organs."

'Protected by law'

Scottish SPCA animal rescue officer Aimee Findlay, appealing for information about the incident, said: "We have received a report of a gull with an arrow through its head in Elgin. The gull is still able to fly so we haven't been able to contain it.

"We are very concerned for its wellbeing and are keen to treat it as soon as possible to prevent infection and further injury and suffering.

"In July, we investigated a report of a gull with an arrow through its body in Ross-shire.

"This is very concerning. We want to make it clear that gulls, like all birds, are protected by law and it is a criminal offence to deliberately injure or kill a gull."

Source

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.

Read on

Man smashed gull into wall, killing it, for stealing his chips

"This was an unthinkable and despicable way to treat an animal"

Neil Shaw  PlymouthLive, DevonLive And CornwallLive

11:33, 13 MAR 2019

A man brutally killed a gull in an act branded "unthinkable and despicable" because the bird knocked chips out of his hand.

John Llewellyn Jones, 64, killed the gull during a day trip to Weston Super Mare on July 17, 2018.

The lesser black backed gull flew around the defendant trying to reach his chips, and subsequently knocked his snack from his hand.

Jones' reaction "shocked by-standers, including children" - as witnesses observed him catch the gull by the leg and smash the animal into a wall, killing it.

Jones, from Bishopston Road, Cardiff, was found guilty of a Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 offence at North Somerset Magistrates' Court in Weston-Super-Mare yesterday. Jones had pleaded not guilty, but magistrates listened to two witnesses, and said their accounts were "credible and compelling", before finding the man guilty of the offence.

He was sentenced to a 12-week curfew, applicable between the hours of 8pm and 8am, which began immediately. Jones was also ordered to pay £750 in costs, and a £85 victim surcharge.

Gulls are protected under section 1 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 - and Jones committed an offence by killing the wild bird.

The RSPCA say the man showed "blatant disregard for animal welfare" and "cared more for his chips than what his actions did to the poor gull".

Simon Evans, RSPCA inspector, said: "This was an unthinkable and despicable way to treat an animal - with this gull smashed against a wall by the man, solely because it knocked chips from his hand.

"This was deliberate cruelty, borne from the fact that this man cared more for his chips than what his actions did to the poor gull. Simply, the man showed blatant disregard for an animal because he was annoyed about his chips.

"Witnesses saw the attack - and shocked by-standers, including children, had to look on as the man killed the gull."

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Spice gull: seabird turns orange after falling into vat of curry

Photograph: Vale wildlife hospital/PA

Wildlife hospital uses washing-up liquid to clean bird that was scavenging for food at factory

Press AssociationThursday 9 June 201615.01 BSTLast modified on Thursday 9 June 201622.00 BST

A seagull turned bright orange after it fell into a vat of chicken tikka masala.

The bird fell into the container while trying to scavenge meat from a food factory bin on Monday. It was rescued by workers at the site in Wales, and picked up by a volunteer for Vale wildlife hospital, near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.

Staff at the hospital used washing-up liquid to remove the bright orange from the seagull’s feathers. They returned him to its original white colour but have not been able to wash away the smell of curry.

Lucy Kells, veterinary nurse at the hospital, said: “He really surprised everyone here – we had never seen anything like it before. He had fallen into a waste vat of curry that was outside, it was chicken tikka masala. The thing that shocked us the most was the smell. He smelled amazing, he really smelled good.

“He cleaned up surprisingly well at the hospital, we used washing-up liquid a few times.”

The bird, which has been nicknamed “Gullfrazie” on Facebook, was put into a cage after his ordeal. Staff are feeding it meat, dog and cat food and pieces of chopped fish to build up his weight.

continued ...

Fury as firefighters blow £1k to rescue dying seagull

FIREFIGHTERS have been blasted for wasting £1,000 in taxpayers’ cash saving a dying seagull.

By Laura Neil / Published 11th December 2015

BIRD-BRAINS: Firefighters blasted for wasting £1,000 in taxpayers’ cash saving a dying seagull

Six fire crews, including two fire engines and a specialist boat crew, along with an RSPCA inspector, were called out after the bird was spotted tangled in fishing line.

The seagull, which was caught up in a tree, was later put down.

FIREFIGHTERS: Six fire crews and an RSPCA inspector was called out to save the bird

“Surely the RSPCA could have handled the rescue mission on their own” Emma Roberts tweeted

Pictures taken at the scene show two fire- fighters wearing lifejackets paddling in the middle of Sindings Pond in Bedworth, Warks.

Taxpayers questioned why so many resources were used.

Emma Roberts, 21, from Bedworth, tweeted: “Surely the RSPCA could have handled the rescue mission on their own?”

Continued …

Angry bird dive-bombing customers at Seattle parking lot

By Michelle Esteban Published: Jul 15, 2015 at 8:46 PM PDT

SEATTLE -- "Angry Birds" isn't just the name of a video game for patrons of a parking garage in downtown Seattle.

A territorial, diving-bombing seagull has people running for cover at one local lot.

You won't see many people or parked cars these days on the rooftop lot of Seattle's Goat Hill Parking Garage. A mamma seagull has staked out the lot for herself and her family, and nobody else is welcome there.

Many patrons know the bird is just doing what all good moms do and they're happy to give up their spot.

"It's internal, it's something you have no control over," said Kathy Tremper, who parks in the lot.

Continued ...

Bewildered bird falls in love with its own reflection

By Nikki Papatsoumas

3:53 PM Wednesday Sep 17, 2014

A bewildered bird has entered into a very one-sided relationship after falling in love with its own reflection.

A seagull pecking at its own reflection

 on a tinted-glass door of a disused factory 

in Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast. 

Photo / Mark Mitchell

The narcissistic seagull has taken up residence at an abandoned building on Omahi St in Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast, north of Wellington.

Carolyn Mitchell, owner of nearby business The Pantry, said the seagull has been there for the last two days, tapping at its reflection all day long.

Ms Mitchell said at first she thought the seagull might have had a mate trapped in the abandoned building.

"But then we realised no, he's actually seeing his reflection, and it is like he thinks it's a mate and he is actually trying to get food in there."

The bird had also begun to gather things to build a nest, Ms Mitchell said.

Continued ...

Seagull 'harmony' plea after young bird killed by cyclist

12 August 2014 Last updated at 17:30

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The RSPCA has issued advice on "living in harmony" with seagulls, after a young cyclist was seen "deliberately" riding over one.

The bird was destroyed after it was paralysed by the bike in Great Yarmouth, on 29 July, the RSPCA said.

Inspector Laura Sayer said it was "a horrific act of cruelty".

The charity's advice includes being sympathetic to young gulls who try to steal chips and placing litter in "gull-proof" bins.

Ms Sayer said two witnesses had heard the "cracking of bones" as a young male cycled over the bird, on Crown Street.

She said: "It was a horrific act of cruelty.

"When I got there the bird was still alive, just, but collapsed and unable to move. The vet said the bird had been paralysed after his spine had been dislocated by the bike."

Ms Sayer said the type of attack was "not as unusual as you would hope" and asked people to be more considerate.

"With the school holidays in full swing it is likely this problem will only get worse," she said.

Continued ...

Angry Bird Takes Rage Out on Rabbit

A birdwatcher captured some astonishing images of a seagull devouring a rabbit that happened to cross its path.

The scenes took place on Skellig Michael, a popular bird watching spot and a World Heritage site, off the coast of County Kerry in Ireland.

Photographer Michael Kelly described the moment when the seagull swallowed the unlucky rabbit whole.

He said: "I actually went out to photograph puffins and as I was sitting there this gull just came down beside me.

"It just stood there and this rabbit came out. The seagull pulled on its head straight away. The rabbit stood up to it, but it was no contest.

"The gull just caught it, hit [it] a few times, then he picked it up by the head and just swallowed him whole."

Kelly said he "couldn't believe" he was in the right place at the right time to take the dramatic photos.

continued

Enraged seagull assails public - and reporter - in central Belfast street

The RSPB has advised the public to steer clear of seagull chicks they find in towns or cities, after particularly aggressive displays by an adult gull in Belfast.

The avian charity said it is aware of the bird making a nuisance of itself between Adelaide Street and Alfred Street in the city centre, but said the situation is unlikely to last long – adding that the swooping bird is essentially harmless.

The creature has been dive-bombing passers-by for a couple of days in a bid to scare the “predators” away from its chick, which could be seen waddling about on the streets, vainly flapping its wings.

Susan Kula from the RSPB had heard about this and other such instances.

She said: “Gulls are nesting more and more these days in the city centre. Predator-free nesting sites on rooftops and easy access to food in the city centre means it’s a perfect location to raise their young.

Continued

CRUELTY TO BIRDS: Five days for killing seagull

JESSIE ARCHAMBAULT, OTTAWA SUN

FIRST POSTED: FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 2014 01:28 PM EDT | UPDATED: FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 2014 02:17 PM EDT

Killing a seagull led to five days in jail for Keith Watt.

On Aug. 27, 2013, Watt repeatedly bashed the bird into a brick wall and left it injured and motionless in blood, The bird died two days after the incident.

“The bird really suffered before dying form its injuries,” said Bruce Roney, executive director of the Ottawa Humane Society.

“We’re pleased the justice system has acknowledged that this act of animal cruelty is unacceptable in our community,” he said.

Watt was also sentenced to two years of probation, to pay restitution to the Ottawa Human Society, and won’t be allowed to own an animal for the next five years.

This is the second sentence related to animal cruelty this year in Ottawa. In February, Gregory Armstrong was sentenced to 60 days in jail for having tortured a mother raccoon and her kit.

Courts recognized the seriousness of the crime and punished accordingly, said Roney.

http://www.ottawasun.com/2014/03/28/five-days-for-killing-seagull

Helicopter called in to save seagull stuck in power lines

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (CNN) - A dramatic rescue unfolded in Virginia Beach Thursday.

A helicopter was called in to save a seagull.

Witnesses reported the bird had been tangled up in the power line since Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Virginia Dominion Power said the seagull was too high up for a bucket rescue.

So the company sent in the helicopter it usually uses for special equipment.

Workers managed to free the bird.

It was then taken to the Virginia Beach Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, where it's expected to be treated for its injuries.

Video:  http://www.wdam.com/story/23490997/helicopter-called-in-to-save-seagull-stuck-in-powerlines

Strange birds spotted around city

Yellow seagulls in city

LOUISE BERWICK

Last updated 12:10 28/03/2013

A yellow seagull spotted near the Southland Museum and Art Gallery.

Yellow seagulls are making quite the appearance in Invercargill.

Several yellow gulls have been spotted in various locations across Invercargill in the past couple of weeks, and have people questioning what has happened to the birds.

One of the brightly coloured gulls made an appearance at Newfield Park School and left two young pupils wondering why the usually white and grey birds looked as though they have been coloured in by a highlighter.

Newfield Park School pupil Sean Barrett, 7, wrote a letter and drew a picture of bird to send to naturalist Lloyd Esler, asking why is was yellow and what could have happened to it.

Sean has his theories about why it is yellow, but hoped Mr Esler would be able to give him a more definite answer.

"It could have flown too close to the sun. It could be the sunshine that makes it yellow," the boy said.

Mr Esler has different ideas about why the bird is yellow, but even with the descriptive drawing and a photo, he was left puzzled.

He believes it could be part of a study or someone was having a bit of fun.

The bird that the school children had spotted was a three-month-old red-billed gull, and it is not the only yellow gull. Another was seen at the Southland Museum, which is clearly different, he said.

Southland Museum and Art Gallery curator Lindsay Hazley said the bird had been popular with visitors and was quite a talking point.

But the yellow seagulls have not been seen at the museum for several days now and that was probably due to its unusual looks, Mr Hazley said.

Continued:  http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/8484182/Strange-birds-spotted-around-city