This last week has seen various small teams out on rooftops around Falmouth ringing gull chicks, all part of the ever-growing project looking at the behaviour and movements of urban Herring Gulls. So far we've ringed 25 birds on St Mary's School, 20 on Tregnoniggie Industrial Estate, 65 on the university campus roofs in Penryn and various other smaller groups.
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| Ringing chicks on the roof of Wilko in Falmouth |
It's was also full moon last night and perfect weather for some Storm Petrel ringing, so a small team headed down to Gwennap Head, Porthgwarra. As the wind dropped the birds started arriving at the nets and we were set for a busy night!
The final tally was 114 new birds ringed and six birds retrapped that weer already ringed. Three of these were birds we'd ringed previously, one just a month ago at Lizard. Another was a bird we ringed at Porthgwarra in July 2018 that was recaught in North Wales just a week later. Another has a slightly more interesting history. It was ringed at Porthgwarra in June 2015, then recaught on Skokholm Island in July 2015 and in Ceredigion 10 days later. In an almost identical occurence it was recaught again on Skokholm Island in August 2018 and in North Wales nine days later!
Other ringed birds came from Co Mayo (ringed in 2008, so a good age), Skokholm Island in 2018 and also a Spanish-ringed bird. This is only the seventh Spanish-ringed Storm Petrel to be found in the UK, but the fourth at Gwennap Head (after birds in 2008, 2009 and 2017)! Others have been caught at Pendeen (in 2005), Tyne & Wear (in 1992) and two in Scotland.
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