Rare Heermann's Gull Mugged by Tourist?

An endangered Heermann's gull was allegedly attacked and beaten by a man from Kansas visiting Laguna Beach after he claimed it took ice cream from his wife.

The OC Register reports:

"Laguna Beach police reported that Djuric and his wife were eating ice cream on Main Beach when one bird hit his wife's head and tried to grab the ice cream. Djuric, who had been defecated on, began waving a stick and hitting the birds, Laguna Beach police Sgt. Jeff Calvert said.
However, a Fish and Wildlife Service review of the witness statements showed that the ice cream fell on its own and when the birds came to eat it, Djuric hit the birds with a stick, Ed Newcomer with the Fish and Wildlife said. The birds were not attacking and Djuric's actions were not in self-defense, he said. The Heermann's gull, which had a broken wing, was taken to the Wetland and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach, where it was euthanized." See full article.

Pelican Summers in Kentucky Lake

Every now an again us bird watchers are treated to a visit by a species that is beyond of the norm for a certain location.

The Courier Journal Reports:

"Tom and Carol Stroud of Louisville reported spotting a brown pelican at Lake Cumberland last week.

State wildlife officials were skeptical, but Carol Stroud produced a photograph that removed all doubt.

'When I heard about it, I assumed it was a white pelican,' said John Brunjes, who works with the migratory bird program for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. "We get several reports of white pelicans each year."

Brown pelicans, however, are extremely rare in Kentucky. The juvenile bird documented by the Strouds is only the state's fifth confirmed sighting of a brown pelican, according to Burnjes." See full article.