Portuguese Peregrine and a few old friends

We have recently received a report via BTO of one of our Peregrines ringed this year. GR80973 was one of two chicks ringed near Morvah in July and was sadly found with a broken wing in northern Portugal at the end of November. It is currently in care and we'll post an update as soon as we know anything more...

This is an especially notable movement, as can be seen from the map below of Peregrine movements from the BTO's Online Ringing Report. In fact, this is just the second report of a BTO-ringed Peregrine in Portugal (following one from Co Louth found dead there in 1981), with only one other bird further south; a bird from Northumberland found dead on Lanzarote in 1998.

There's not much other ringing news to report, what with the weather being so poor! But we've been out reading a few rings (coloured and otherwise), catching up with a few old friends. From east to west...

• Black-headed Gull ES72115 remains at Par Beach Pool. Ringed as an adult in November 1995 it's getting to a good old age now, but still has a way to go to beat the UK longevity record of 32 years!
• The Black-tailed Godwit flock on the Truro River is now at 65 birds, including at least two colour-ringed birds. One was a male bird ringed at Farlington Marshes, Hampshire, in September 2005 and has been seen most autumns since in Hampshire (July to October) and in spring in Kent (March to April), but rarely in the winter months. It was seen twice on the Exe estuary, Devon, in November 2009 but not since, but has now become a regular on the Truro River, having been seen in December 2012, November 2014 and twice this month. The other was also a male, ringed in July 2010 in Iceland, and has been seen at Devoran and the Truro River in four different winters and also back in Iceland every summer since. Interestingly it has also been seen at Frampton Marsh and Welney on migration.

The Hampshire godwit at Boscawen Park in November 2014 (John St Ledger)

The Icelandic godwit at Devoran in December 2012 (John St Ledger)

• Down at Devoran, the two regular colour-ringed Curlews remain, ringed in August 2015 in Powys (the first from that project to be seen elsewhere) and in June 2013 in The Netherlands.
• On Gillan Creek, the roosting gulls haven't received the attention they deserve of late, but it's nice to now that the regular Green R16X is still with us, ringed in France in June 2009 and seen on the Helford and down at Coverack every winter since.