Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Quiz Tuesday part 23

What you are seeing, took place recently at Fort Myers Beach. I was watching it from the pier, together with a group of beachcombers and fishermen . Sorry I can not divulge any more details right now, but I know how clever you are - you'll figure it out :-).

Today's question is: can you describe what is taking place in this photo?

UPDATE: This scene is part of a dramatic rescue mission! Two seagulls got tangled up in the fishing line, with a hook stuck in one of their wings. They were sure to die...
This young man jumped in the water with some clippers to free them but it was not an easy task - the birds were wriggling, hissing, biting, getting entangled even worse...
Finally, after half an hour and another pair of helping hands, they were freed and brought onto the beach to recuperate. Obviously they were stressed and dazed and I hope they made out OK...

For more photos of the rescue, please click here.

31 comments:

Kate said...

We have birds in our home, and to me it looks like this bird's wings are getting clipped or trimmed. Keeps birds from flying away. If hot that it might be some kind of grooming. what's my prize??

Kate said...

Should read "if not that"...Damn! I did it again; wouldn't you think a former English teacher would be more careful?

Carol E. said...

they are remote control fake birds and need trimming on the feathers to fly more realistically??

kuanyin333 said...

Is he tagging the bird for some project?

Ming the Merciless said...

I go for tagging too.

My question is how does the guy get to the bird without it flying away. That is the question I would like to know the answer to.

Jing said...

well....
i would think like this after reading ming's comments:
the bird in the photo is a sculpture...thats why it stays there and the guy could mend the wing...
:DD
am i right??

jing
shanghai daily photo

Olivier said...

il met des marqueurs sur les oiseaux, pour pouvoir suivre le mouvement des oiseaux


it puts markers on the birds, to be able to follow the movement of the birds

Z said...

I'm going to combine Ming's question with Kate's suggestion: the feathers are being clipped so that the birds can't fly away. My question is: wouldn't it make sense for the man to wear shorts in the water instead of the jeans?

Seda said...

Very interesting picture. I think the guys were trimming the feather but why should he do that?
SEda

Linda said...

Since there are two birds there and of the position they are in, is he helping them with some sort of mating process? Or am I just a pervert?

pusa said...

i think the boy is try to cut the wings from the birds so he can use the wings to fly :)

sorry i have really no idea what is going on in there

angela said...

I wondered about the two birds too.
So how about tagging while they're otherwise occupied which always answers Z's question...
I'm usually spectacularly wrong!
Angela

Peter said...

I hope he is just making some kine of brushing to make it look fancy. If it was for marking, it would rather be around the legs?

Nikon said...

I'm going to guess that he's clipping the feathers so they can't fly - or at least fly too far away.

Anonymous said...

He doesn't seem to know what he is doing but then it looks like the bird could be having the wings clipped so it cannot fly away.

Have your ever seen the top of two Hondas?

Dsole said...

hmm... I think he's cutting a feather... maybe for some kind of charm or amulet... or maybe he just made a bet to get a feather!

Anonymous said...

Isabella, all your quizzes are so easy, I can quickly guess each one.
Here it is very obvious to anyone, that he is teaching the bird to swim. Since the bird is nervous about drowning, he is using scissors to "prod" the reluctant trainee.
What do I win?

Anonymous said...

Isabella I agree with Frank, your quizzes are so easy, ...except he got it wrong.

What we are seeing here is a little help to Mother Nature. If you look closely there are 2 birds, 2 sets of wings and hemmm sorry if I have to use explicit sexual references here but the guy is trying to help them reproduce, so he is delicately placing the male over the female for the process to take place.
It's a sad fact that ducks that have been in captivity for too long lose their basic instincts and need to be helped with these things ...
What do I win?

Ah les francais, ils pensent toujours a l'amour, hein ?

Lavenderlady said...

Darned if I know...I just come and read the other guesses and giggle!

JM Vigil said...

My guess is that the birds got tangled in fishing line (from the fishermen on the pier) and he jumped in to save them, to cut the fishing line.

R&R said...

Hmmm...not sure why you'd clip the wings of a wild bird, and usually tags are on the legs, so I'll go with untangling. They look like terns, some of which are endangered in certain areas. Can't wait to see the answer.

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

he's helping the two of them out ....how?? they have gotten entangled while they were flocking together, after all birds of feather flock together...

alice said...

You write you were with a group of fishermen...Could it be possible these two birds have swallowed a hook? This man is coming to cut the fishing line with his knife. In my opinion, it the only reason these birds didn't fly away when he came so close.

Jilly said...

I always come to these quizzes late so get to read everyone else's responses.The one that makes the most sense is that these birds have got caught up in a hook, or nets. Otherwise, surely the guy would wear shorts - but of course he rushed in to help. The knife, or whatever he's got in his hand, is to try and help these poor birds.

Not sure I'd have come to this conclusion tho without earlier comments, you clever folk who came before me - and perhaps we are all wrong. This could be some trick question, folks. Don't trust Isabella!

Is this blood I see on the right hand side - on the blue wing. And I don't get the white wing, blue wing bit - what sort of bird IS this - or plural, OK?

Unknown said...

is he separating the feathers?
i have absolutely no idea!

Deb said...

Isabella-I have carefully studied your photograph, and have carefully read all of the comments.
What do I win?

JAM said...

It looks to me as if one, or both of the birds has ahold of a fish. are the birds caught in his line?

Maybe he was fishing and the birds swooped in as he was "landing" the fish. At least I hope he's got the knife to cut fishing line and not the birds!

Sally said...

He's posing with a pair of scissors and 2 birds so you could take a picture and confound millions of people around the world.
How much did you pay him?

Anonymous said...

is he clipping the wings with scissors or lighting them on fire with a flick lighter....

isa said...

Congratulations to Jules - she was the first one to correctly describe the scene, and picking up on my clue - the fishermen!

Most of you deserve some spanking (with a wet noodle!) for your wild guesses:
- no, they are not mating
- no, he's not clipping their wings (that's just cruel!)
- nor is he tagging them, brushing (lol!)or pulling a feather for luck.

And Jilly, please put your glasses on ;-) There are 2 birds, they are both white, it's the sun shade that gives them the blue tinge...

For more info and more photos, please check out the Update to the post.

Thanks to all for playing along...

Anonymous said...

Dear Isabella
Did you really need to specify that my answer was tongue in cheek? I thought it was obvious enough.