Nice Selection...

Wednesday 2nd August 2023

Today I had to go to Belfast to attend a job interview and the timing of the interview could not have been better.  On completion of the interview, I was only minutes away from Kinnegar Beach on Belfast Lough, and on my arrival the tide had recently started to recede.  Loads of gulls were quickly gathering on the shore, and scoping through them, I spotted two colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls.  Managing to obtain photos of both birds, the codes told me they were both Scottish.  I did not realise it at the time, the sighting of the second gull, was actually a re-sighting of a bird I had recorded in the past.

Having reported both gulls to Iain Livingstone who is the ringing coordinator for the Clyde Ringing Group, I also submitted both to the BTO.  The first gull spotted -  2HP6 , was submitted by its colour-marks only, and the BTO were able to supply a recovery.

It turns out that -  2HP6  was ringed on the same date as my second sighting here on Kinnegar Beach.  Iain Livingstone has yet to reply, but as things stand, my sighting appears to be a first for this bird.  Ringed as a chick on the 24th June 2020, the duration since being ringed, is now 3 years, 1 month and 9 days, and the distance from Elvanfoot, is 166 kms / 103 miles (WSW).

Black-headed Gull  -   2HP6   -  Kinnegar Beach, Belfast Lough, Co. Down  (02 Aug 2023)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 24th June 2020, at Elvanfoot, South Lanarkshire, Scotland)

On taking the photo of the second Scottish Black-headed Gull -  2EN5 , I hadn't a clue that I had recorded this bird as a juvenile back in 2020.  As with all ring sightings, the first thing I do, is to make a search on my Main Ring Reading Spreadsheet, just to see whether the bird in particular has been recorded in Northern Ireland at any time in the past.

 2EN5 , was ringed as a chick, on the 24th June 2020, at the Elvanfoot colony in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.  One month and two days after being ringed (26th July 2020), the youngster had moved 45 kms / 28 miles (NW), being recorded at Strathclyde Country Park, near Motherwell in North Lanarkshire, Scotland.

On the 19th October 2020,  2EN5  then turned up at my Black-headed Gull Study site at Antrim Marina in Antrim Town, Co. Antrim, which is situated 182 kms / 113 miles (WSW) from the Elvanfoot colony.  The duration at the time of my sighting, was 3 months and 25 days.

Since 2020 until now,  2EN5  went undetected.  The distance from Elvanfoot to Kinnegar Beach, is 166 kms / 103 miles (WSW), and the duration since being ringed, is now 3 years, 1 month and 9 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2EN5   -  Kinnegar Beach, Belfast Lough, Co. Down  (02 Aug 2023)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 24th June 2020, at Elvanfoot, South Lanarkshire, Scotland)

Black-headed Gull  -   2EN5   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (19 Oct 2020)

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From John Clarke

On Thursday 3rd August, John Clarke was out walking his dog along the cliff tops just outside of Portstewart in Co. Londonderry, and spotted a colour-ringed Mediterranean Gull among other gulls on the rocks below.  On taking a few photos, John managed to capture the code -  PLNR .  John left it to me to submit his sighting, which I duly did, submitting it directly onto the Polish Ringing Database.

As yet, no information has returned, which is very unusual, as the Poles are normally very quick to reply.  A possible reason for the delay, may be a backlog of recoveries due to birds being found dead having suffered from 'Bird Flu'.  The wait continues.

Mediterranean Gull  -   PLNR   -  Port Gallen, Portstewart, Co. Londonderry  (03 Aug 2023)

(Waiting for the Ringing Details)

(Photo Courtesy of John Clarke)

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Saturday 5th August 2023

It was a late start this afternoon, as high tide in the Larne area was forecasted for 14:41.  My plan was to start on the Glynn foreshore of Larne Lough, and make my way northwards along the east County Antrim Coast to Carnlough.

I arrived at Glynn at 4pm, and by 4:15, I spotted my first and only colour-ring over the course of this outing.  This was a juvenile Common Gull -  2L22 .  As well as reporting my sighting to Iain Livingstone, who is the ringing co-ordinator for the Clyde Ringing Group in Scotland, I also submitted the sighting to the BTO by the bird's colour-marks only.

The BTO were the first to get back to me, as they were able to generate a recovery.   2L22 , had been ringed as a chick, on the 20th June 2023, on the Isle of Tiree in the Argyll & Bute region of Scotland.  The distance to Glynn, was given as 195 kms / 121 miles (SSE), and the duration since being ringed, was 1 month and 16 days.

Common Gull  -   2L22   -  Glynn, Larne Lough, Co. Antrim  (05 Aug 2023)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 20th June 2023, on the Isle of Tiree, Argyll and Bute, Scotland)

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From David Nixon

On Tuesday the 8th August 2023, I received an email from David Nixon, who had earlier that day, recorded four colour-ringed birds.  The first of these, was a Black-tailed Godwit which belongs to a certain ringer who does not respond to sightings, therefore, it was decided not to pursue this one any further.

The other three, were two Black-headed Gulls and a Common Gull.  The Common Gull -  2BBC , was actually one of my study birds from my project on Rathlin Island.  Although this gull was spotted on Rathlin Island just prior to the start of the breeding season, there was no sign of the gull in any of the sub-colonies from April through to June.  The gull was not seen again, until being spotted on Ballycastle Beach, on the 20th July 2023, by Pete and Ann Wilson, who were in Ballycastle on holiday, but live in Sheffield, England.

I stated at that time, that -  2BBC  was probably on it's way to Dundrum for the winter, and this is where David found the gull today, on the high tide roost at the South Inner Bay at Dundrum.  The distance from Rathlin Island, is 115 kms / 71 miles (S).  The duration since being ringed, is 6 years, 1 month and 15 days (PDF).

On checking his notes, David's sighting of a Black-headed Gull with a White Darvic, was his second for this bird.  (White) 2499, was ringed as a chick, on the 17th June 2021, on Lough Ree in County Longford in the Republic of Ireland.  Brian Burke, who is the ringing coordinator for The Lough Ree Gull Project, confirmed that David's two sightings remain the only ones for this gull.  David first spotted the gull on the 11th October 2022, at Green Island in Dundrum Bay, just north of the town of Dundrum.  The distance from Lough Ree to the South Inner Bay at Dundrum, is 159 kms / 98 miles (ENE), and the duration since being ringed, is now 2 years, 1 month and 22 days.

When I saw the code for David's second Black-headed Gull sighting, I thought WoW.  This bird was ringed -  2EN6 , and I recorded -  2EN5  last week on Belfast Lough.  As ringing coordinator Iain Livingstone, has been slow to respond of late, I submitted David's sighting to the BTO as well, hoping that they could generate a recovery from the colour-marks only.  This time, Iain got back to us first.

As with my two gull sightings on Belfast Lough last week,  2EN6  was ringed as a chick, on the 24th June 2020, at the Elvanfoot colony in South Lanarkshire Scotland.  One previous sighting was recorded on the 5th August 2020, when -  2EN6  was spotted by Brian Henderson at Bishop Burn on Loch Ryan in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland.  At the time, it had only been 1 month and 12 days since -  2EN6  had been ringed, and Loch Ryan is situated 104 kms / 64 miles (WSW) from Elvanfoot.

Today's sighting of -  2EN6 , takes the duration to 3 years, 1 month and 15 days.  The distance from Elvanfoot to Dundrum, is 192 kms / 119 miles (SW).  David took photos of all four sightings today, but he is experiencing some issues trying to download them from his camera.  My thanks to David for his sighting reports, and if I do obtain a copies of the photos, I will add them to this post.

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From Graham McElwaine

Graham McElwaine has been in touch several times in recent days reporting his colour-ring sightings.  The first of these was made on the 6th August 2023, with the sighting of Great Black-backed Gull -  R32:D  at Kilkeel Harbour in County Down.

 R32:D , was ringed as a chick, on the 4th July 2020, on Dalkey Island in County Dublin, and was still on the island on the 15th & 29th July 2020.  The young gull's next sighting was made here in Northern Ireland, when spotted by Declan Clarke, on the 5th November 2020, at Ardglass Harbour in County Down.  Seven day's later, on the 12th November 2020,  R32:D  had flown back south into the Republic of Ireland when spotted at Bullock Harbour on the southern coast of Dublin Bay.

The gull was not seen again until the 15th May 2022, when Graham McElwaine had his first encounter with -  R32:D  at Kilkeel harbour, followed by a second sighting there on the 6th September 2022.  With this latest sighting at Kilkeel, it seems as if -  R32:D  has made this fishing port its home for now.  The distance from Dalkey Island to Kilkeel Harbour, is 90 kms / 55 miles (N), and the duration since being ringed, is now 3 years, 1 month and 2 days.

On the 7th August 2023, Graham made two visits to Ratallagh Beach which is just south of Portavogie in County Down.  During each visit, a colour-ring was spotted, though these belonged to two separate gulls.  Graham reported them as Black-headed Gulls, ringed - (White) 30PT and -  PLX6 .  I was a bit sceptical about (White) 30PT, as 3*** is a Belgium ring, and are used to ring Mediterranean Gulls.  I went onto the cr-birding site, and made a search for Black-headed Gulls ringed - White '3', but did not get a match, whereas a similar search for Mediterranean Gulls, gave me a result.

I emailed Camille Duponcheel concerning Graham's sighting of (White) 30PT, citing that it was reported as a Black-headed Gull, but we would settle on Camille's response.  Camille was very quick to reply, to say that (White) 30PT, was a Mediterranean Gull.  Although most of this ring series are used in Belgium, some rings are also used in Holland, as was the case of Graham's bird.

(White) 30PT, was ringed as a chick on the 1st July 2021, on one of a group of islands known as Ventjagersplaten, on the Haringvliet Inlet just south of Rotterdam, Holland.  Three previous sightings were made in August 2021 in Norfolk, England, February 2022 in Spain and in May 2022 in France.

I have submitted Graham's sighting to the BTO, but it may take a while before we obtain a recovery.  I estimate the distance from the Haringvliet Inlet to Ratallagh Beach, as being roughly 720 kms / 447 miles (NW), and the duration since being ringed, is now 2 years, 1 month and 6 days.

Graham's second Black-headed Gull -  PLX6 , also had me second guessing, as it is a Polish bird.  Polish Black-headed Gulls previously recorded in Northern Ireland, have always been colour-ringed with either White or Yellow Darvics, but Red would be a first.  Polish-rung Mediterranean Gulls recorded in Northern Ireland, have always been ringed with Red Darvic's with ' P ' as the starting letter (an example is John Clarke's sighting above).  I went onto the cr-birding site to look for Black-headed Gulls with Red Darvic's starting with the letter ' P ', and did get a match for Poland.  I went ahead and submitted Graham's Black-headed Gull onto the Polish Ringing Database, but as yet, there has been no reply.  Will this one come back as a Med Gull as well?

Graham's final colour-ring sighting, was made on the 9th August 2023, when he spotted a Herring Gull -  H14:M , at Millquarter Bay in County Down.  Graham reported the sighting directly to Mark Fitzpatrick, who is the ringing coordinator for the Isle of Man.   H14:M , was ringed as an unsexed adult, on the 15th October 2022, on the Calf of Man.  This sighting is the first for the gull, coming 9 months and 25 days since being ringed.  The distance from the Calf of Man to Millquarter Bay, is 57 kms / 35 miles (WNW).

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From Cameron Moore

A phone call from Cameron Moore came on the evening of the 9th August 2023.  I was asked if I could send a text message with my email address added, as his son has had problems with a computer.  Cameron is not computer savvy, and therefore relies on his son to download photos and send emails.  Whilst on the phone, he reported the sighting of a juvenile Herring Gull, rung -  117:C .  I normally associate ':C' as gulls having been ringed by the Clyde Ringing Group in Scotland, but these are normally White Darvics with Red Characters.

Whilst Cameron was still on the phone talking about the non-appearance of Terns so far this autumn, I had a quick check on the cr-birding site, and discovered that this ring series belonged to Roisin Kearney.  Through the BTO's Katherine Booth Jones, I knew Roisin was due to begin a new colour-ringing project on Lighthouse Island which is the home of the Copeland Bird Observatory in County Down, and these were to be used on both Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

I received photos the following afternoon and then emailed Roisin concerning Cameron's sighting.  As of today (Saturday 12th August), I have not received a reply and have decided to go ahead and publish this post.

Juvenile Herring Gull  -   117:C   -  Whitehead, Belfast Lough, Co. Antrim  (08 Aug 2023)

(Waiting for the Ringing Details)

(Photo Courtesy of Cameron Moore)

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