Terror on the wing: seagull photographed as it snatches ducklings When they flew away from their offspring to give chase, the gull, which had been circling the pond, seized its chance. The ducklings, realising the danger, scuttled into the long grass at the side of the pond in Herbert Park, Dublin - but too late. The gull returned, took another duckling and swallowed it whole. The adult ducks finally returned to their smaller family.