Ringing Update...

Ringing Details Received

During my visit to Victoria Park in Belfast on Christmas Day, I spotted a 'metal-ringed' Black-headed Gull.  Having successfully pieced the ring number together from a series of photos, I reported this gull to the Icelandic Ringing Scheme at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History.

The ringing details arrived with me yesterday.    537949  was ringed as a chick on the 2nd July 2006, in the area of a town called Húsavík, which lies on the North Icelandic coast.  I sent another email enquiring if there had been any previous sightings of this BHG since it was ringed.  My sighting was the first for this gull.

As of the 25th December 2015,   537949  is 9 years, 5 months and 23 days old.  This is the second oldest BHG that I've spotted, which is of known age.  The oldest I have recorded was ringed as a chick in 2003, also in Iceland and was a recent arrival at Antrim Marina for a third winter running.

It may well be possible, that   537949 , has been wintering every year at Victoria Park since 2006 and remained un-detected until now.  This will be another one to watch out for next winter.  This is my 3rd 'metal-ringed' BHG to be recorded this winter, the other two are currently at Ballycastle and Antrim.

The distance from Húsavík to Victoria Park is 1,414km / 879 miles in a south-eaterly direction.

Black-headed Gull  -  Iceland   537949   -  Victoria Park  (25 Dec 2015)

Húsavík, Iceland to Victoria Park, Belfast  -  1,414km / 879miles

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