A GRANDAD was left bloodied and battered after being attacked by an angry seagull.
Kenny Esson, 78, was trying to lift one of the bird’s chicks out of his garden when the squawking menace swooped.
The retired bus driver, who thinks the gull feared he was a threat to its young, said: “I was just putting the chick over the wall and the next thing I knew I felt a whack.
“The mum or the dad came swooping down and drew blood with their sharp beak. I couldn’t believe it.
“It wasn’t that sore but there was a lot of blood.”
Moments later, Kenny said another bird tried to go for him.
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He added: “Luckily, I ducked and that one missed. If they’d connected then I dread to think what would have happened.
“The whole side of my face would have been gone. As it was, they only managed to get a chunk out of my forehead.”
Kenny, from Ferryhill, Aberdeen, did not need stitches or hospital treatment and the wound cleared up when cleaned.
The city is thought to have one of the UK’s largest urban gull populations.
Kenny said: “I think there are more seagulls here than down the beach. They’re everywhere.
“I’ve got my granddaughter’s big dog now. The gulls are a bit reluctant to come down if they see it.”
The RSPB says baby gulls out of the nest should not be touched unless they are injured.
