Friday, January 28, 2022

Feeding the Gulls


I was on my walk today, photographing, as I have lately, inanimate objects, which can be fun for me but boring to all of you readers.  I was taking a slightly different route that went through the parking lot at the beach and Then I saw this woman feeding the Gulls.  I saw the cloud of gulls first, and then noticed that this woman was kind of jumping up as she threw food at them.  I immediately went in to my "action shot" mode and started shooting.  At least it is something different for all of you!  But then...  I think I remembered that it is not a good practice to feed Gulls.  I looked it up, and sure enough, it is not healthy to feed them.  The Masachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation says:  "Feeding gulls may be fun and appear beneficial for the birds, but this food threatens their well-being as well as presenting a threat to drinking water supplies. Before deciding to feed the gulls, please consider the following impacts. Gull Health - Foods like breads, crackers and french fries are commonly offered to gulls, but these items are nutritionally inferior and poor substitutes for natural foods. Gulls with a highly artificial diet may suffer long-term health problems. Disease - Lower nutrition and crowding together promotes the spread of disease among gulls, other native birds, and humans. Gulls are best left alone to forage naturally."  Wow, I got more than I bargained for!  But there it is!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the photo, especially as I look out the windows and see whirling snow today.
Joan

Anonymous said...

Other than not feeding the gulls, I like this photo of all the gulls in various stages of flight. betsey