Daniel turns 18 and gull rescue

Daniel turned 18 this week and when asked what he’d like to do to celebrate he said a walk in the woods with a picnic beside a waterfall. And so we planned the Kincardine O’Neill and Dess Waterfall circular walk for today.

In preparation for a picnic I walked into town this morning to get some supplies and spotted an injured gull in the grounds of Soul Restaurant on Union Street.

I gave it a bit of my sandwich but it wasn’t interested in it and when it tried to fly I could see something was not right. Its wings looked ok, however, although it was unable to fly, so it seemed like a good candidate for rescue. Gulls with broken wings are usually euthanised as they can’t survive in the wild. But this one didn’t appear to have broken wings and nor did it look ill as I wouldn’t want to contaminate a wildlife rescue centre with bird flu.

And so I decided then and there I’d take the poor bird, who is now called Steven, to New Arc Wildlife Rescue in Ellon.

I went into Pret on Union Street to see whether they had a box I could put Steven in and they very happily provided me with one. I then went back and gingerly stepped towards him until he started to flap his wings then I grabbed him. I didn’t realise gulls could turn their heads back 180 degrees and that they had such long necks and sharp beaks. Note to self: next time wear gloves. Steven was not going willingly and bit my finger. Indeed he wouldn’t give it back and I’ve discovered a gull’s beak has a serrated edge. I ended up with quite a big cut but eventually managed to put him in my box and shut the top.

I had to walk back home with blood pouring down my hand. It looked like this by the time I got home. Ben came out to meet me in the car but I’d already walked most of the way.

I then took Steven to New Arc where they had a look and thankfully there’s nothing broken but he’s got some kind of leg injury. He’ll get some pain relief and be cared for by them with the hope of making a full recovery as he’s only 2 or 3 years old we think. He’ll get fed fresh fish each day and being a Union Street gull that scrounges off human junk food and rubbish he’ll think all his Christmases have come at once with five-star luxury catering. New Arc is a wonderful charity that does great work rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife. They are always in need of donations which can be made via their website.

I know some people dislike gulls but they have just as much right to live here as we do and their numbers are in decline so they need all the help we can give them. I read recently from someone who rescues gulls that given the choice they prefer to eat their natural food source which is fish and when food is aplenty will turn their noses up at the human-made junk food we see them eating in our cities. They only eat our junk food because their own food source is depleted thanks to industrial-scale fishing. We can all help by not eating fish and allowing ocean fish stocks to recover but we all have to do it and not just the tiny percentage of vegans.

Rescuing Steven meant we left for our picnic lunch a little late but Daniel being the considerate soul that he is did not mind and it turned out perfectly as the sun came out in the late afternoon.

And just like that our wonderful boy has turned 18 and is now about to finish school before heading off to university after the summer to study maths and computer science. He’s turned into a very kind young man who works extremely hard and has lots of ambition. I’m not sure what we did to produce such a well-round, happy, clever young man but I think it’s a combination of good luck, good management, and good genes. Happy birthday, Daniel.