Recently, due to many chores I had little time for Hive. I kept on photographing birds and gathering material for posting. It is about time to start sharing and being more active.
Of course, the #SMaP contest never stopped running and I will always find time for it.
If you are one of the participants in the weekly contest in the Feathered Friends Community - Show Me A Photo, #SMaP in short, you may recall I mentioned about the black seagull and promised to tell about it.
It all started with a message from a friend of mine. Julia was finishing work and on her way back home she saw a strange bird she managed to photograph with her phone and she sent me the photo asking if I knew what it was. I was surprised to see a completely black seagull. I am no expert or ornithologist. I start looking for some clue in the net and soon I found more photos and video clip of others who encountered that bird. Next days the photos of the seagull were everywhere in the social media, local news and recently on the national TV. It becomes a mascot of the town. People were asked to name it. There were so many names and what I found is a short list and soon I hope the bird will have its name.
Since I had no chance to spot it, I use the photo sent by my friend.
Credit photo - Julia Ilieva
I went in the center of the where the bird was seen and spent a solid hour looking for it. It was before the heat, but still it was getting too hot and I could not risk to stay out any longer.If all goes well with the seagull, I will try again after sometime. But for now, it will be madness. Although it seems the exceptionally hot days when the temperature reached 40°C are over, we still suffer from the heat.
There were many comments and opinions about the colour. It was said that the seagull raised interest in other countries too. Ornitologists recon the bird is melanist. This is the opposite of the albino. The exsesive quantity of melanin changes the colour of the feathers in black. This is a mutation, that happens in other species too. Other opinion - the bird was abused by vandals who painted her. I tend to believe the melanist theory. Part of me doesn't want to believe somebody could be so cruel to abuse the seagull. Still it was a puzzle, because nobody recalls seeing a black seagull before.
There were also speculations of an omen, but I am not superstitious. A rare bird like that should be kept safe and from what I saw on the news, people were feeding her and it got a lot of attention once being spotted.
If I have more news about the black seagull and my own photo, I will keep you posted.
Until next time and happy birding!
Thank you for viewing my post.
😮 A hellgull?
😁
So dark, could be. 😀😉
This is definitely scary. 😀
😄
Hello lady @nelinoeva
This is a true rarity, and also like you, I prefer to think that it is associated with melanism and not vandalism.
I hope you have the opportunity to find the seagull and have the opportunity to photograph it.
Thank you my dear, I wish to see the seagull in person and to make my own photo.
That's crazy! It surely seems like an omen to me...
It is not something you encounter everyday.
Who knows what else we might see...
Unusual capture by your friend. Someone had a photo in 2006 in Victoria Australia on Flickr that looks similar, she too was asking if anyone knew. Random perhaps a new species, definitely not painted as that would kill the bird.
Sounds extremely hot in your region, take care to avoid that heat and good luck in seeing this seagull personally.
!LUV
!PIZZA
I also thought that it could kill the bird, if it was painted. Interesting to know that in some other places such rarity occurs.
Oh, the heat is something we have to accept as new reality. Next week new air-conditioner will be installed at home, because my old one no longer is working. Without aircon we hardly will survive.
Heat is horrendous with humidity, only an aircon helps stay indoors as much as possible.
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@joanstewart(2/10) tipped @nelinoeva
How are you dear friend @nelinoeva
I'm very sorry that you are very busy and have little time to be in #hive.
I'm not surprised that it was national news, given the rarity of the bird, I had never seen an all-black seagull before. How great that your friend took this photograph.
Thank you so much for your comment.
Recently I have lots of things to do, but hope soon to be on track.
The bird is really a sensation as it is so unique.
Did she took bath at a disastrous oil spot?.... might be so. 😱
I doubt, this could kill her, I think.
Not "could"; definitely would. Birds cant operate normally after oil greasing they lose the non-wetting quality for their feathers, as far as I remember from my Biology classes.
You have paid attention in your classes. 🙂
I was extremely obsessed with Biology, back in high school years it was my most fave lesson. A confession that I hope hardly can be used for social engineering tricks xD
I have never seen a black seagull before. Got to know about it from an article in the news. It looks like a regular seagull, but has been stuck in a chimney, and then released.
Hmm, this is also possible, but who knows....
:)