The Folklore of Aquatic Birds of Cliffs, Lakes and Rivers

Few watery scenes are quite complete without birds in the picture. Ducks drifting across a country pond. Gulls wheeling in the sky above the beach, before they divebomb an unsuspecting tourist for their chips. Kingfishers flashing along a river, a bright dazzle of colour against the water. They're so much a part of the scenery that aquatic birds have had a long relationship with humans. In some cases, that link has been much more literal. For example, some believed drowned seamen became gulls, so capturing a gull and keeping it on a ship brought bad luck. But with a long relationship comes folklore. These birds predict the weather, foretell death, ward off intruders, or enjoy holy protection!  Let's find out more about the cormorant, curlew, duck, goose, kingfisher, and puffin in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/aquatic-birds/ RSVP for my Folklore of Magical Trees talk: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-folklore-of-magical-trees-tickets-912709648127?aff=erelexpmlt Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore Enjoyed this episode and want to show your appreciation? Buy Icy a coffee to say 'thanks' at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7 Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick 'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/ Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social Tweet Icy at https://x.com/IcySedgwick