Seagulls in mourning.

[Captain Kong]

Last week when I was staying in Fleetwood, the wind blew a Seagull`s nest off the roof and landed on top of the conservatory, I got rid of it,
Then Noticed the Seagulls on the roof squawking, They had a chick up there and trying to protect it without a nest.
Then the following day the chick fell off the roof , about ten feet, and landed on the top of the conservatory,
The Seagull stood by it squawking, and pushing it, but it was dead,
The Gulls, male and female took it in turns to stand by the chick, and for three days and nights they stood next to the chick, never left it at all.
It was quite sad to watch them. I couldn't get anywhere near to help them.
Then on the fourth day , the Gulls picked up the body and flew away across the harbour, so do not know what they did with it.
I took the photo of them from a bedroom window and from inside the conservatory, below.
Brian

[Chris Allman]

That is sad - it just shows that normal parents and people grieve on the loss of their children / mates and animals and birds are no exception to the rule. I once saw a blackbird hit by a car and killed. Immediately its mate flew down to the body squawking and showing so much distress that it was upsetting. A guy from a house nearby who I knew, picked the dead bird up and said he would bury it in his garden. I saw him some time later and he told me that the birds mate had followed him with the body and watched him bury it from a nearby tree. It had then flown down and stayed by the spot on and off for nearly a week. He said he put food daily by the spot and the bird ate it, before finally disappearing. He said it really upset him and wife to watch.

[Harry Nicholson]

Those two stories are memorable and are hard to set aside. I had once had a smallholding and put the meat on the table each weekend - but after a while I witnessed enough recognisable emotion among the animals I reared, I was moved to give up killing and eating them. That was 28 years ago.

[Peter F Chard]

As a kid growing up in Fleetwood I once hit a seagull with a small rock fired from my slingshot whilst playing on the beach. The whole flock then attacked not only me but all the other boys I was with. Those birds can certainly give a nasty bite with those beaks and a nasty smash with those wings. I have never done anything like it since, the gulls won that stoush !! Cheers, Peter in NZ.