GULLiver's Travels
We arrived at the usual piso to find all was well.
Until I had to visit to the restroom which was out of order - or 'the bog was bust' as we Brits would say. The local plumber couldn't come until 7pm the next day.
So, the following day we drove to the Parc Natural where we saw purple heron, marsh harrier, spotted crake, bee eater, roller, hoopoe, reed warbler, fan tailed warbler, green sandpiper etc...(do you really want to know all this?)
Then home to get out of the heat and wait for the plumber ...... and look what I found.
He was a very brave herring gull with a damaged wing - so he couldn't escape from the terrace. Herring gulls are big birds - he was knee high, had a fearsome beak and was looking at me expectantly.
And I was fresh out of herrings.
What to do?
If he stayed there he would die - slowly.
If we managed to lift him over the wall he would fall to the ground and die slowly.
I couldn't find the number for the Spanish equivalent of Bill Oddie or the RSPB ... and he was still looking at me.
Should we let nature take its course?
NO!
Averting his eye (and beak) I threw a sheet over him, lifted him into a box and we drove back to the visitors' centre at the Parc.
A nice señora inspired our confidence as she took him in. I doubt if the wing could be fixed - but the vet would do the right thing by my new friend.
He's probably in Herring Heaven by now.
How did Gulliver know we were birders?
The plumber didn't show up - but the loo miraculously started working again.
Excellent - I needed a rest.
KAZ
posted by KAZ at 6:49 am
32 Comments:
Serendipity - I was taking pictures of gulls yesterday, on the River Yare. Don't know what variety they were - they had red beaks.
Mr Gull was hansom.
perhaps you should have taken Gulliver to a taxidermist. . .
. . .would have made an interesting souvenir
(but I suspect you're not that much of a souvenir purchaser)
Hello&Goodbye Señor Gull.Dont they have Polish Plumbers in Spain?
Enjoy Yourself Kaz.
Perhaps the gull was saying "Busco una chica para compartir piso"?
The loo was fixed by the Great Spaghetti Monster in the Sky in recognition of your avian altruism.
It's good to see faith rewarded.
poor Gulliver :(
I should think gull tastes a bit like chicken but fishier . . .
Dave:
Had it got a black head?
Could it have been a tern?
xl:
Very imposing and masculine looking - though he could have been a she.
View:
Not the sort of souvenir that would fit in my rucksack - and rather too spooky for my liking.
I like pebbles.
Tony:
Where's a good old Polish plumber when you need one?
He wouldn't have let me down.
Rog:
Single white gull wanted - non smoker (herrings not kippers!)
Garfer:
'avian altruism' - awesome alliteration Garfer.
I like your theory.
Ziggi:
I predict he would taste of herrings or the Spanish equivalent.
Nicely done Kaz, Herringgullkind (which looks rather German)owes you one.
Ahhh... I have a bald headed blackbird in my garden, I thought she was going to die, but she's had chicks and is still bouncing around. I think she'd been hit by a car... anyhow she is a tough old bird.
Sx
Sorry, I read fantailed as failed.
Maybe I don't like birds as much as you do.
British coastal towns don't have herring gulls, they have chip gulls. Big birdy bruisers.
We have a woman at work who seems to attract injured birds. She does the right thing by them.
I shall publish some photos next week, Kaz, then you can tell me what they are.
If the gull had found you on the beach and figured out you couldn't move, ever, well......peck,peck etc.
Sometimes it's good to be a human.
NiC:
Oh dear - I've never like herrings.
Scarlet:
How nice to know that Mr Blackbird still wanted to shag her - even though she was bald.
There's hope for us all.
Inkspot:
Being a warbler takes so much energy and concentration - it must be quite normal to fail.
Geoff:
They are scary - I bet they grab the chips out of your hand.
We are in a fishing port here so they are in herring gull paradise.
Dave:
Look forward to it.
Gulls aren't my mastermind special topic. But I'll do my best.
Arabella:
Surely not my Gulliver. Oh dear.
Do Spanish plumbers have "Plumbers Crack?"
I am so glad you at least tried bird rescue. Animals are so much better than people some times, don't you think?
Plumbing is a mystery whatever country you are in. The last plumber I had was not impressed when I told him the only way to get into the loft hatch was to climb on me.
Good on yer. Kate Humble would be proud.
And apparently Herring Gulls taste rather nice in a white wine sauce.
I love the shoplifting seagull in Aberdeen.
Hmm, don't trust herring gulls ever since one swooped down and bit half of my cheese panini in St Ives. If one tried to win my sympathy by pretending to be injured I WOULD LAUGH IN ITS FACE.
That is all.
Are you sure that it wasn't a handsome young Spanish plumber upon whom a spell had been cast and had you but kissed him, he would have been transformed back into human form? Have you not read fairy tales?
I think I encountered Betty's gull in St Ives too - last time I was there one flew at me and tried to make off with my '99
MJ:
I don't know - he didn't turn up.
Kerrie:
And did he??
Steve:
Humble? proud?
Is there a contradiction there?
MJ:
That looks exactly like Gulliver.
Now I know what happened - it was that innocent looking shop keeper what did it.
Betty:
No doubt there is good and bad even amongst herring gulls.
The herring gulls here give humans a wide berth - rather like I do.
Madame:
Ah - you have identified the gap in my education. My mum disapproved of fairy tales - even Father Christmas.
I love the thought of this story.
View:
English gulls are just yobbos. They seem to be nicer here.
goes a deep shade of green.
as a name though I prefer Zitting Cisticola to fan-tailed warbler.
btw
your herring gull. look at the legs. aren't they yellow? the back is a slightly darker grey. so how about yellow-legged gull. a cousin of Herring
Pete:
I love the way he puts on a show - making identification so simple.
Pete:
I did wonder about that.
Yellow legged are a rare in UK - but not on the Med. So he probably is (er was).
Rats with wings.
Yikes I say chuck it over the side.
It could have all sorts of diseases and mites
Phoning the Spanish equivalent of the RSPB would only mean that they wouldn't have been able to come around 'til 7pm the following day...
Hello Bill:
Oh No - since I found out he was a yellow legged gull I hold him in the greatest respect.
Pete:
You heartless Danish person you.
Still - good thing I was too scared to actually touch him.
Istvanski:
Hasta mañana.
Yes I always take care to stay fit when in Spain.
good samaritan to a gull - well done gal - don't know what I would have done - remember seeing one crash onto the tramlines at Blackpool last year and someone moved it into nearby bushes to recover or ...
Gerald:
Ta - glad someone approves.
Post a Comment
<< Home