Godwit Solved...

Black-tailed Godwit

Last week I reported on four colour-ring sightings that were made by David Nixon at Dundrum in County Down.  One of these included a Black-tailed Godwit, which I dismissed, as I reckoned it belonged to a certain ringer who does not respond to sightings.  Unfortunately, the ringer concerned is using a colour-ring sequence that is registered to another ringer.  At present, David is having problems in trying to download photos from his camera, but he used his phone to photograph the godwit through the viewfinder on the camera.  The bird has a red ring above it's right knee, with what appeared to be yellow/orange/yellow below the knee.

Black-tailed Godwit  -  R-YOY  -  Dundrum Inner Bay (North), Dundrum, Co. Down  (08 Aug 2023)

(Photo Courtesy of David Nixon)

It was thanks to Graham McElwaine, who suggested that David's Godwit, could actually be the same bird that David recorded at the same location (Dundrum Inner Bay (North)), on the 5th October 2022.  This prompted me to check up on the photo that David took at the time, but instead of yellow/orange/yellow, the bird was ringed yellow/red/yellow.

Black-tailed Godwit  -  R-YRY  -  Dundrum Inner Bay (North), Dundrum, Co. Down  (05 Oct 2022)

(Photo Courtesy of David Nixon)

David sent an email to Antonio Fernandez Cordeiro concerning the latest sighting of R-YRY.  A reply was received on the 15th August 2023, on the same date that Graham himself had also spotted R-YRY, this time on the high tide roost at Dundrum Inner Bay (South).

R-YRY, had been ringed as an un-sexed 2nd Calendar Year bird, on the 18th January 2019, in the Arnosa area in north-west Spain (Map).  Since being ringed, the bird has been recorded on many occasions in Spain, including five sightings since David first recorded the bird here last year.  Outside of Spain, two other sightings were made by Tom Cooney in September and October 2021, when spotted at Dundalk Bay in the Republic of Ireland.

The distance to Dundrum from Arnosa, is 1,337 kms / 830 miles (N), and the duration up until Graham's sighting on the 15th August, is now 4 years, 6 months and 28 days.

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Herring Gull Recovery

Last week, I also reported on the sighting of a juvenile Herring Gull that was spotted by Cameron Moore at Whitehead in County Antrim.  Ringed -  117:C , I sent an email to Roisin Kearney as I believed the bird was from a new ringing project on the Copeland Islands in County Down.

Roisin replied to say that her new ringing project began this summer, with this ring series being used on both Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.  A total of 102 Herring Gull chicks, 46 Lesser Black-backed Gull chicks and 5 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls were colour-ringed this summer.

Cameron's juvenile -  117:C , was ringed as a chick, on the 1st July 2023, on the Old Lighthouse Island, which is the home of the Copeland Bird Observatory.  It has only been 1 month and 7 days since the gull was ringed, and the distance to Whitehead, is just 13 kms / 8 miles (NW).  My thanks goes to Roisin for the info, and good luck with the new baby.

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Wednesday 16th August 2023

Recently, I have checked the same stretch of the east County Antrim coast looking for colour-ringed Gulls.  Each time, I started on the foreshore at Glynn on Larne Lough, making my way northwards to Carnlough Bay.  Today, I made a slight detour after leaving Glynn, as I took a quick drive southwards to Whitehead.

Just one colour-ringed was spotted today, and I was lucky to get it.  I had been at Glynn for over an hour with the tide steadily receding, when way in the distance I spotted an Orange Darvic on an immature Great Black-backed Gull.  As I was on the platform of Glynn railway station, my Nikon P1000 was going to have to work hard to capture the code.

Photograph of the large gulls taken from the railway platform of Glynn station

Standing on the right hand end of the railway platform, I was well into digital zoom and managed to obtain a half decent photo of the gull, though I was not able to capture any details on the ring.  Walking across to the left hand end of the platform, I captured the code -  P44:M .

Being a bird from the Isle of Man, I emailed Mark Fitzpatrick, though it took the best part of a week for a reply.   P44:M , was ringed as a chick on the 20th June 2022, on Kitterland Island situated halfway between the Calf of Man and the Isle of Man mainland.  My sighting was the first for this bird since being ringed, with the duration being 1 year, 1 month and 27 days.  I am waiting on an official recovery from the BTO, but I estimate the distance as, 107 kms / 66 miles (NW).

Great Black-backed Gull  -   P44:M   -  Glynn Foreshore, Larne Lough, Co. Antrim  (16 Aug 2023)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 20th June 2022, on Kitterland Island, Isle of Man

All of the big gulls congregated on the left hand side of the Glynn River outflow, whilst a nice group of mainly Common Gulls rested on the right hand side of the river.  With at least 200+ Common's, I was really frustrated as most decided to lay down on the seaweed.  I had hoped to spot one or two of my Rathlin Island Study birds and there was no sign of the juvenile Common Gull -  2L22 , which I spotted here on the 5th August 2023 - this one having been ringed as a chick back in June 2023, on the Isle of Tiree in Scotland.

Photo of the Common Gulls taken from the platform of Glynn station

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