I've seen the same thing happen to a Pied Oystercatcher, also on South Ballina
beach, northern NSW.
You can see my photo on eBird. Hopefully this web-link will work:
http://ebird.org/ebird/australia/view/checklist?subID=S25836233
Cheers, Steve
-----Original Message-----
From: Jack Worcester
Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2016 9:01 PM
To:
Subject: Silver Gull vs. Bivalve
On South Ballina Beach today I observed an unfortunate Silver Gull with a
pipi (Plebidonax deltoides) firmly clamped to a toe on its left foot. I can
only speculate how this happened, but possibly the gull stood on the pipi's
foot as it was surfing with the tide, or maybe the Gull was trying for an
easy meal while the pipi was burrowing. The added weight kept the entire
leg dangling in flight, but other than this the Gull didn't seem too
perturbed. I assume the pipi will eventually dehydrate and relax, releasing
its grip. I have posted some rubbish mobile phone snaps onto the
birding-aus facebook page - the best i could do unfortunately. Certainly
not something you see every day!
Cheers,
Jack
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