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After only 5 hours in the River , The newly released duckling has been killed by a black backed gull and crows. It is hard for me to take, having nurtured this duckling for 7 weeks and only putting it in the river hours ago.
It was almost fully grown, so it gives you an idea of what little chance ducklings have, faced with these kind of predators.
Today I watched an interesting episode in the life of a Black-backed gull.
These are one of the most powerful predatory birds on the coast, and capable of taking and eating most other species if they want to, including Cygnets up to 3 weeks old. I have seen one take a fully grown duck a few years back.
This episode involved a black back finding a dead flounder and trying to soften it up to eat, but being pressured by a Hoodie crow and a young Herring gull.
The end result was the black back eating the whole flounder in one go ! Sequence of pics tells the story.
The crop on a black back Gull is enormous and basically encircles the entire neck, consuming a whole fish or eel is no problem to the black back !
Another fascinating episode of the River Nairn wildlife !
