Norwegian LBB Gull...

Antrim Marina - Monday 24th July 2017

Today, I stopped by Antrim Marina for a couple of hours, to watch out for any of Adam McClure's 'colour-ringed' Black-headed Gulls.  The weather, being very warm and sunny, probably had an effect on the number of gulls present at the Marina, as very few birds appeared.

Larger gulls, were more evident than the BHG's, which is the reverse to normal sightings here.  Lesser Black-backed Gulls, put in a very good showing, along with a few Herring and a couple of Common Gulls.  A couple of fledged chicks were also present, these being BHG and LBB Gull, youngsters.

 

Only two of Adam's Study birds appeared, these being   2AAF  and   2AAT , both known to be residents in the Antrim Marina area.  The pair of Mute Swans, along with their five cygnets, are very popular with folk coming to feed the ducks.  Some people have asked me, did I know where the other swans went too?  A couple of months ago, numbers ranged between 20 and 30 birds, which does pose a good question, where do the go?

2AAF	2AAT

Black-headed Gulls Re-sighted at Antrim Marina  (24 Jul 2017)

Sitting in my car waiting for gulls to appear, I had a 'hell of a surprise', when an immature Lesser Black-backed Gull, landed about 15 feet away from me.  Having spotted a 'Black colour-ring', I grabbed my camera and started taking photos.  I could read the code, which was   J638Z   and proceeded to try and catch the number on it's 'metal-ring'.

The gull flew off, remaining in the area for about 10 minutes and then departed.  Checking my photos for the 'metal-number', all I had was Norway   4280*** .  It was just as well, that this gull bore a 'colour-ring', as I would not have been able to confirm the 'metal'.

Once I returned home, I entered the 'colour-ring code' onto the live Norwegian Ringing Database and soon had the gulls details.  It was ringed as a 1st Calendar Year Male, on the 30th September 2016, on Lake Langvannet, just to the east of the Norwegian Capital - Oslo.

 

There had been one previous re-sighting of   J368Z , before I spotted the bird at Antrim Marina.  On the 18th April 2017, it was re-sighted at Sidi R'bat, in southern Morocco.  Did it go there for it's summer holidays?  Sidi R'bat, is 3,659 kms / 2,273 miles, south-south-west from Lake Langvannet, whilst Antrim Marina, is 1,181 kms / 733 miles (SW), from Norway.  The ringer, Morten Helberg, will be well pleased with this sighting.

Lesser Black-backed Gull  -  Norway    J386Z   -  Antrim Marina, Co. Antrim  (24 Jul 2017)

(Ringed on the 30th September 2016, as a 1st cy Male, at Langvannet, Norway)

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Ringing Details Received

I have receieved the ringing details for the Herring Gull that I spotted on the 2nd June 2017 (Read), at Ardglass Harbour, in County Down.  Although, I was missing the first letter on the metal ring, while taking photos, I knew it would start with the letter 'G', as it was a BTO ring.  I emailed the photos to the BTO and they confirmed that the gull looked good for an oldish bird.

  GA39125 , was ringed as a chick, on the 28th June 2002, on the Calf of Man, which is a small island, just off the south coast of the Isle of Man, which itself is situated in the Irish Sea, between Northern Ireland and England.  The duration from ringing till my sighting is 14 years, 11 months and 5 days, therefore making   GA39125  the oldest Herring Gull on my records.  Ardglass, lies 56 kms / 34 miles, WNW from the Calf of Man.

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Further Re-sightings of Polish Ringed Gulls

The Mediterranean Gull   PNU0 , has been re-sighted twice, since my last update on it's return to Poland.  Ringed as a chick in May 2012, there had been no reports of it returning to Poland, until the 14th May 2017, when it was spotted on Lake Mietkowski (Blog Post).

  PNU0 , was seen in Swidnica area on the 24th and 25th June, having now moved 12 kms / 5 miles, SW from Lake Mietkowski.  Could this be the start of it's journey back to Northern Ireland?

The Black-headed Gull -   T58T , which was recorded at Lurgan Park last winter, has now been recorded back in Poland.  On the 15th July,   T58T  was spotted at Świnoujście, where it was ringed as an adult, just one day short of a year ago, on the 16th July 2016.  Świnoujście, lies on the north coast of Poland, close to it's border with Germany.

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