Latest news with #seagull
Telegraph
4 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
Gull ‘mugs' maintenance man of his coffee cup
A gull stole the coffee cup of a maintenance worker who had worked on bird-proofing his town. Darren Pardoe watched as the bird finished off his drink before taking to the sky and dropping the mug out at sea. Mr Pardoe had been carrying out a roof repair on an old lifeboat house in Porthleven, Cornwall, when he stopped for a coffee. As he pulled out his camera to take a few pictures of the harbour, he was told by someone next to him that a gull had started drinking his brew. Seconds later, the gull took off with the mug in its beak and flew across the harbour. After landing on the water, the bird dropped the mug, and it sank. Having carried out bird-proofing in the town before, Mr Pardoe joked that the gull had taken revenge. He said: 'I've been in Porthleven doing bird-proofing and I've obviously upset a few of them. 'I'd just been out looking at a roof repair on the old lifeboat house, and it was a nice morning, so I thought I'd have a coffee and take a few pictures of the harbour. 'I was talking with this guy and he said, 'There's a seagull drinking your coffee.' There it was, beak in my coffee, so I got a few photos. 'I turned back again, and he said it had my cup and sure it enough it was flying across the harbour with the coffee mug in his mouth.'
The Sun
5 days ago
- The Sun
Racing bike rider cheats death by staying in saddle after slamming into giant seagull at 150mph
A DAREDEVIL TT rider cheated death after slamming into a jumbo-sized seagull at 150mph - and somehow stayed in the saddle. Mark Parrett, 55, was tearing through the famous Isle of Man course when the feathered missile hit him head on. 2 The 3kg bird busted his lower arm, snapping one bone in two, and dislocating his wrist. Mark, a TT veteran with 98 starts under his belt, miraculously managed to stay in control of his powerful BMW superbike. The speedster, from Midhurst, West Sussex, was airlifted to hospital after the smash earlier this month. He told The Sun: 'It's a bit of a miracle I stayed upright. 'It was a huge seagull - they're all massive on the Isle of Man - and it just shot up out of nowhere. 'I was doing 140 or 150mph so there was no way of avoiding it. I had to just grin and bear it. 'It felt like being hit by a cannonball. If it had hit me in the chest or the helmet, I'd be history. 'I was lucky that I didn't come off the bike.' Pictures posted on social media show his racing leathers drenched in bird guts. Mark, a self-employed electrician by day who now faces surgery to plate and pin the break, later joked: 'Parrett one. Seagull nil. Football rolls inches from Isle of Man TT legend riding at 130mph in frightening near miss 'It does go to show Parrett's are birds of prey after all.' He added: 'I've had enough laps around that place to know the worst thing you can do is panic. 'It's the nature of the circuit - you can hit all sorts of things.' Mark is aiming to return to the Isle of Man next year for his 100th start. He added: 'I'm getting too old to be doing this, but it's like an addiction. I will be back there next year, whatever happens.' A post on the Facebook page of Mark Parrott Racing read: 'A local seagull lay in wait for 'The Parrett' on the approach to the 33rd milestone and hit Mark on the left arm. 'He soon realised that it was rather serious when he tried to pull in the clutch and his left hand wasn't working.'
BBC News
6 days ago
- BBC News
Cornwall seagull sips man's coffee before stealing his mug
A gull has taken revenge on a man who was installing anti-bird spikes in a Cornish town - by drinking his coffee and pinching his worker Darren Pardoe had been bird proofing houses in Porthleven when he stopped at a pub for a coffee on 3 said he had been talking to someone before he turned around to find the gull helping himself to the hot brew. Before he could take action, the feathered thief flew off with the mug. "I think it had remembered me," he joked. Recalling the coffee heist, Mr Pardoe said: "I turn round and sure enough a seagull's got its beak in my coffee... next minute the bird picks up the coffee cup by its handle and takes off across the harbour with it."It flew round the harbour and then landed on the water, put the cup down, and the cup just sank."Mr Pardoe captured a photo of the bird in flight with his coffee mug.
BBC News
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Sporting Witness Goalie v Gull
Dutch goalkeeper Eddy Treijtel played for Rotterdam giants, Feyenoord, more than 300 times. But one of his most talked about moments happened during a game against city rivals Sparta Rotterdam, in 1970. His goal kick, meant to pick out a striker, instead hit and killed a seagull. The dead bird was later stuffed and now resides in the club's museum. Eddy tells Johnny I'Anson about the moment that would go down in football folklore. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You'll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded. Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women's World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football's biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers, tennis players and athletes as well as people who've had ground-breaking impact in their chosen sporting field, including: the most decorated Paralympian, the woman who was the number 1 squash player in the world for nine years, and the first figure skater to wear a hijab. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the tennis player who escaped the Nazis, how a man finally beat a horse in a race, and how the FIFA computer game was created. (Photo: Seagull. Credit: Thomas Winz)
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
Excited tourists watch 'nature documentary' unfold as predator hunts off Aussie coast
Tourists have watched on with excitement as two unlikely Australian animals came together to perform a fascinating feeding display. Photos highlight the amazing cunningness of a seagull as it scavenges tiny pieces of fish strewn across the ocean by a hungry fur seal. 'When the seals are eating they whack it around to make it a bit smaller, and the birds follow,' Melinda Fredericks from Lonsdale Eco Cruises told Yahoo News. 'We'll often get around a dozen of them. If you watch the bird activity, they're a good indication of when there are seals or even dolphins around.' Related: Tourists stunned by 'lifetime moment' off the Aussie coast The spectacle happens regularly around the Victorian holiday town of Lakes Entrance. Tourists lucky enough to see it close-up often describe it as being like 'a nature documentary in real life'. 'Tourists are amazed to see something in the wild like that, animals actually hunting and feeding,' she said. A week ago, when the seal was smashing up its fish, she heard the familiar cries of 'My God, wow, and look at it,' she said. 😳 Shock moment kangaroo enters suburban home 📸 Carloads of Aussies flock to water's edge as 'exciting' ancient ritual begins 🌏 Farmers lead Aussie research team to 'unreal' discovery on island Out on the water several times a week, Melinda has been lucky enough to have seen the seal display before. The veteran guide has snapped images of seals attacking an unlikely array of prey, including puffer fish, eels and even an unfortunate octopus. The seals are familiar with her boat, so they continue on as if no one is watching. But she doesn't like to stay more than 10 minutes, so as not to disturb the animals as they display natural behaviour. 'This time of year we get up to 100 seals, but it goes in cycles. Towards the end of May we'll get heaps of them and their pups. But when November comes, a lot of them will disappear and go offshore,' she said. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
