Another German Med Gull

It's been a long time since we've blogged, but having received this photo we had to share. Yellow AZTN was one of 166 Mediterranean Gull chicks ringed in Saxony, Germany this summer. Of those 36 have been seen since, 25 in the UK, so it was nice to see AZTN at Stithians Reservoir earlier in the week.

In total almost 500 German-ringed Med Gulls have been seen in the UK, with just 20 seen in Cornwall. Thanks to Andreas for the quick reply on the sighting and the photo.

Green 0T0

We've been finding it quite difficult to catch up with any significant numbers of Mediterranean Gulls at our regular sites (Men-aver beach and Gillan Creek), so colour-ring sightings have been few and far between. But yesterday we did catch up with Green 0T0 which is an occasional visitor to Portscatho and the Helford river.

Distance and poor light weren't conducive to a decent photo of 0T0

Ringed as a chick in Vendée, France in 2011 Green 0T0 was first seen in Cornwall in September 2011, then again in October 2012. By December 2012 it was down in Portugal, moving east to Spain in February 2013. It was then back in France before being seen in southern Portugal the next winter. Since then it's only been seen in France, before returning to Cornwall in August 2014 and now August 2016.

This is one of the wider-ranging of the birds we've seen in the county, so hopefully it will continue to wander!

Ring-reading weather

Well 2016 seems to be getting off on the same foot as the back end of 2015, with yet more wind and rain meaning there's not a lot of mist-netting to be done. But there are still gulls to catch and, just as importantly, rings to read.

So a few of us have been out staring at gulls and waders again, catching up with some old colour-ringed friends, and the last week has seen birds from all over Europe resighted. We've seen Black-headed Gulls from Belgium and Poland (no fewer than three!) and also a 20-year-old bird ringed locally, Med Gulls from Belgium, Ireland and France, a Herring Gull from the Channel Islands (seen previously at Dungeness, Kent), a Black-tailed Godwit from Hampshire and a Curlew from The Netherlands.

Sadly none of my photos are any good, but a couple of the Polish Black-headed Gulls at Par Beach Pool were also photographed by Allan and Iain Stewart, so thanks to them for these.

Juvenile Med Gulls on the Helford

Surprise surprise it's too windy for any mist-netting this week, so it's back to looking at colour-ringed gulls again...

Just for variety I ventured out to Men-aver beach on the southern side of the Helford River. The reef here is a great gathering point for Mediterranean Gulls from the area and as the tide pushes them up the beach it's possible to read a few rings. There have been good numbers of very fresh juveniles around recently, so I thought it'd be nice to try to find a ringed one amongst them to see where they're from so early in the season.

The reef at Men-aver beach

Tides were rather higher than expected (ex-hurricane effect perhaps?), so there were only 15 birds on the reef, but three of these were wearing smart green colour rings, indicating a French origin. Two of these were fresh juveniles as well, exactly as I wanted...

Green 570

Green RR83

Thanks to the ever-efficient Camille Duponcheel, I got the details for these birds back this morning. Both 570 and RR83 had been ringed on the same day (29th June) at the same site: Barbâtre, Polder de Sebastopol, Vendée. This is over 400km from Cornwall and interesting that these birds had moved north so soon after fledging.

Green R16X is a regular in the area, having been seen several times
at Men-aver beach and Coverack

Amazing Med Gull histories and a Herring Gull coincidence

Terrible photo of a Mediterranean Gull (iPhone-scoped) but a fascinating bird! Red PHJ6 was at Hayle estuary this afternoon and the joy of the internet tells me that it has a great history. Ringed as a chick in Poland in May 2007, it was first seen in Cornwall in February 2008, at both Marazion and Hayle estuary.

In April 2009 it was seen at Badminston Gravel Pit, Hampshire, paired with another colour-ringed Med Gull (Yellow 2A34). Now interestingly 2A34 was ringed as a chick in Lancashire in May 2007, but has since been seen in Dorset (April 2011) and remarkably by me at Men-Aver beach, Cornwall (November 2011 and January 2012). So I've now seen both of this pair in Cornwall!

Back to PHJ6... Post-Hampshire, it was seen in Devon in July 2009 and then back in Cornwall around St Ives and Sennen Cove in October-November 2009. It was then seen back in Devon in July 2011 and August 2012, before being seen again on Hayle estuary in September 2012 and then again this afternoon.

The coincidences go on, as over the summer a couple of us went over to Guernsey to help with Paul Veron's colour-ringing project, cannon-netting birds on Chouet Landfill. On the trip we all camp in Paul's garden, where he traps a few gulls in the winter and it was here that White 3CT1 was ringed, a Herring Gull also on Hayle estuary this afternoon!

So all in all a pretty productive stop off this afternoon and just goes to show how colour-ringing can tell us so much about what our birds are doing.