Mew gull injured by fishing lure

Photo: courtesy Richard Drechsler

Friday night, we received two reports of a young mew gull, in first winter plumage, that had become snagged by a fishing lure. There was no sign of line - only the lure, which was caught on the bird's right nare (nostril). Click on the image above to enlarge. 

The bird had been seen at Elk Glen Lake and Lloyd Lake, both in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

On Saturday morning we called upon local birders and members of our Wildlife Search and Rescue Team to canvas the area for the injured seabird. 

By 3:00 PM, there were no additional sightings. We were hoping this meant the bird was able to free itself of the hooks, but no such luck. We had a call from a birder on Sunday, at about 11:00, reporting the bird was at Stow Lake.


UPDATE: Sunday 11:00 AM Rounding up responders to try and capture the bird.

As a reminder, for anyone interested in learning what to do when they find a wild animal in distress, our annual training classes begin this month - the first class is being held next Saturday at the Shorebird Nature Center at the Berkeley Marina.

There are still a couple of spots available. The two-day class is $85.00 per person, for both days. Must be 18 years or older. Sign up, HERE.

To learn more about our trainings, click HERE.