Gullzilla

[cuddly_tomato]

Any cryptozoologists out there? Or people with tin foil hats? Or Aztecs searching for Quetzalcoatl?

Well look at this. Don't wear anything shiney on your head. And I found him.

Last week I was walking along the beach halfway between New Brighton and Moreton. When something huge caught my eye. A black wing, had to have been as long as a human arm, and thick with it. As I focused my attention on what it was I realized this was the biggest bird I had EVER seen I knew this was a camera moment. It was this thing...

Notice the red spot on the beak? I am convinced that is not colouration but is the blood of some innocent victim this creature had decided to eat (probably a bus full of people on the way to the beach).

You can't really get a sense of scale there. So I took a few more snaps, and fortunately another gull decided to risk getting near Gullzilla so I could get a snap for size comparison. Look at the size of the bird in the foreground, it is your garden variety gull.

Has anyone else ever run into abnormally sized animals on their travels?

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

Saw this complete giant of a person. He was huge in every direction (well built, not fat).

 

[DuplicateValue]

Um........can't say I have.

Are you sure it's a gull? It looks completely different...

 

[The Salty Vulcan]

I have you beat

Just one more reason not to go to Australia.

 

[Cargando]

Mate, hate to dissapoint but that's just a black-backed gull, you get them all over the place.

Also, I have seen whales, do they count?

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

Riveting tale, chap.

We get loads of huge gulls in Devon, even when you're miles away from any beach/sea water.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

Mate, hate to dissapoint but that's just a black-backed gull, you get them all over the place.

Also, I have seen whales, do they count?

I know what it is, but have you ever seen one that big? I swear if it had unfolded it's wings they would have spanned over 5 foot, easy.

Whales are big, but until you get a giant specimen among giants not really.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Yea, Greece fucking rocks

 

[Liam1390]

This is a greater black backed gull. The largest gull in the world it has a wingspan of 65 inches, which is just under five and a half feet. That red spot on its beak is used for courtship, competition and for chicks to peck on whenever they feel hungry. Nice try though, but a lot of people confuse large birds for something abnormal. Some will see a great blue heron as a Pterodactyl or an osprey nest as a nest for a thunderbird. Those people tend to irritate me and others who study cryptozoology. At least you asked before jumping to conclusions.
BTW I just found out the facts about the gull a couple minutes after seeing your pictures so don't blame yourself for not knowing.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

This is a greater black backed gull. The largest gull in the world it has a wingspan of 65 inches, which is just under five and a half feet. That red spot on its beak is used for courtship, competition and for chicks to peck on whenever they feel hungry. Nice try though, but a lot of people confuse large birds for something abnormal. Some will see a great blue heron as a Pterodactyl or an osprey nest as a nest for a thunderbird. Those people tend to irritate me and others who study cryptozoology. At least you asked before jumping to conclusions.
BTW I just found out the facts about the gull a couple minutes after seeing your pictures so don't blame yourself for not knowing.

I was just embellishing the story for internet sake, so don't read anything into that. I have seen a lot of gulls before, but when I saw this one it was a real monster sized dude, and that gave my brain a bit of a kick. I am a big nature lover, so when I see creatures that look out of the ordinary, (or at least as ordinary as my experience is concerned) I tend to take a picture and post it all over the place (like I did last time [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.96167]).

Yea, Greece fucking rocks

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! Does that ever carry off children in the night and eat them in a bloodlust frenzy?

 

[duckfi8]

its an ocean seagull

 

[syndicated44]

There is a blackbird god that flies around our backyard. The other crows move out of the way for it and when it gets attacked by a flock of smaller birdies it pecks the things out of the sky. I have even seen it go up against a cat and made the thing run off bleeding. This thing is built on testosterone and death. I dont have a picture so sorry : (

 

[The Maddest March Hare]

It's a Greater Black Backed Gull, they're bloody enormous things and native to Britain.

And I've seen a Griffon Vulture. It was flying next to a buzzard, which usually look pretty big, and the vulture made it look like a freaking sparrow. 2 metre wingspan and the size of a dog when they're on the ground.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

I've seen MUCH bigger gulls.
Hell, there are ones of that size, or larger, where I live.
it's all the unsuspecting tourists. they never stand a chance.

I have you beat

Spoiler

Just one more reason not to go to Australia.

Thanks. I needed a laugh XD

 

[WrongSprite]

Uh...that's a black back gull, they're all over the place =/

 

[Macgyvercas]

Holy hell, that is one big bird!

 

[Necrofudge]

I have seen the ugliest and cleverest creature known to the world.... Man.

 

[Nepeccel]

We had a Gull that size in my secondary school. We called it the King of the Pidgeons!

 

[hamster mk 4]

Could be an albatross, those things have 11 foot wingspans.

 

[Chipperz]

Yea, Greece fucking rocks

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! Does that ever carry off children in the night and eat them in a bloodlust frenzy?

It doesn't need to, the locals sacrafice a virgin-child once a year to stop it destroying the town.