3rd w. Caspian Gull showed well but went missing for long periods Juv Iceland Gull 43 Great Black-backed Gulls on BCA roof (no sign of the smaller, possible hybrid bird)
Cheers, John
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Monday 24th of December 2018 04:32:23 PM
Caspian gull 3rd win X106 still this morning, also juvenile Iceland gull.
Alex Lees said
Sun Dec 23 5:14 PM, 2018
Rob Creek wrote:
Alex the Gull youve singled out was there this afternoon and I too thought it was a little bit different but I just put it down to Great Black-backed. Probably not that noticeable to some but it appeared ever so slightly paler mantled than some of the others and something about it said give it another look Rob, but my attention was drawn away from that one and with good reason.
Nice Caspian! It would be fantastic if someone could get a photos of the black-backed gull's upperwing, the pics in the checklist were taken in very poor light but the bird is much paler than a regular GBBG and primary pattern and streaking are also anomalous....
John Rayner said
Sun Dec 23 3:47 PM, 2018
12.30 - 13.45.
3rd w. Caspian Gull X106 was flitting around but wouldn't settle long enough for photos. Juv Iceland Gull also present
Having reviewed photo no.4 below, its not an adult Caspian Gull like I thought, Im sure its the adult Yellow-legged Gull thats been here recently. I think Ive just caught it from a different angle and a its fooled me. The yellow legs are evident (not that that wouldve ruled out Caspian) but couple that with the correct hue of grey mantle and I think its a perfect fit.
Ive also had a reply from Dr. Ronald Klein in Germany. It is a German ringed Caspian Gull from a mixed colony, and one that was previously found in GM by Ian McKerchar, and then seen again in Shaw (Oldham), thanks for that info Ian. We actually went to try and find this Gull in Shaw but dipped on it, I didnt make the link with the ring number. Below is the life history info that I was sent. Cheers
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Sunday 23rd of December 2018 10:09:56 AM
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Sunday 23rd of December 2018 10:13:38 AM
- juvenile Iceland Gull present briefly and mobile - adult Yellow-legged Gull again briefly and disappeared
Alex the Gull youve singled out was there this afternoon and I too thought it was a little bit different but I just put it down to Great Black-backed. Probably not that noticeable to some but it appeared ever so slightly paler mantled than some of the others and something about it said give it another look Rob, but my attention was drawn away from that one and with good reason. I hope Im right in my identification and if Im wrong then Ill quite happily edit my post appropriately.
- Caspian Gull (3rd winter??) Ring No: X106 What a magnificent looking Gull. It was on BCA Auctions roof firstly then flew over towards the main Redgate yard and I managed a few ok shots. - possible adult Caspian Gull not ringed Not 100% sure on this and again Ill quite happily accept defeat if Im wrong. Images of both Gulls attached.
I had the Iceland Gull yesterday around 3pm and an odd-looking black-backed gull that had me wondering about Slaty-backed until it spread its wings and now just has me scratching my head; potentially a hybrid GBBGxHEGU pics: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S50840788 anyone else seen it?
-- Edited by Alex Lees on Saturday 22nd of December 2018 03:52:30 PM
Rob Creek said
Fri Dec 21 10:24 AM, 2018
Friday 21st Dec
- adult Yellow-legged Gull on 384 building at 10.14am.
(In my opinion looks like the same one as the other day)
Rob Creek said
Tue Dec 18 2:25 PM, 2018
Had a reply from Mike Jackson regarding yesterdays ringed Herring Gull Y:G07.
- Ringing date 30th June 2017 - BTO ring no.GV58522 - BTO ringing code 10 (exact age unknown/hatched at least 4yrs ago) - Ringed at Harewood Whin Landfill, York - Mine is the 1st sighting since ringed
Cheers
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Tuesday 18th of December 2018 10:58:18 PM
Alex Lees said
Mon Dec 17 5:13 PM, 2018
Pics of the Iceland Gull from this morning: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S50742777
I have had Great Black-backed Gulls at lots of sites around Manchester in the last few days, seems to be a big incursion....
-- Edited by Alex Lees on Tuesday 18th of December 2018 09:17:35 AM
Apologies... the photos havent gone on in the order I intended.
1 - Yellow-legged Gull at the top of the image 2 - Herring Gull ring no.Y:G07 3 - juv Iceland Gull 4 - Yellow-legged Gull flying off 5 - Argentatus Herring Gull
Rob Creek said
Mon Dec 17 2:20 PM, 2018
Rob Creek wrote:
Monday 17th Dec
- juv Iceland Gull on 384 building at 10.11am, still here now 1.17pm - 20+ adult Great Black-babied Gulls
- adult Yellow-legged Gull now at Redgate on 384 building - juv Iceland Gull still on 384 building - Great Black-backed Gulls up to around 35 - Argentatus Herring Gull at least 9 - also ringed Herring Gull Y:G07
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 17th of December 2018 02:21:18 PM
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 17th of December 2018 02:30:27 PM
- juv Iceland Gull on 384 building at 10.11am, still here now 1.17pm - 20+ adult Great Black-backed Gulls
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 17th of December 2018 10:22:22 PM
Rob Creek said
Mon Dec 10 7:22 PM, 2018
Rob Creek wrote:
Monday 10th Dec
- juv Iceland Gull currently on the 384 building (1.56pm onwards)
- juv Iceland Gull was present (and for the most part showed well) until around 2.20pm when a low flying helicopter came over and flushed everything from the rooftops and the yard. Most of the other Gulls returned within a minute but I didnt see the Iceland Gull again after that.
Also of note... - 12 minimum adult Great Black-backed Gulls - 7 minimum Argentatus Herring Gulls
- juv Iceland Gull currently on the 384 building (1.56pm onwards)
Rob Creek said
Sun Dec 9 8:02 PM, 2018
Sunday 9th Dec
- juv Iceland Gull present approx 11am this morning, but apart from a couple of flyover glimpses was keeping more to the BCA (car auctions) area and wasnt showing particularly well.
I see it was reported at Redgate after 3pm, and was also reported at Audenshaw shortly before.
Rob Creek said
Sat Dec 8 11:53 AM, 2018
Saturday 8th Dec
- juv Iceland Gull still present, currently on 384 building (11.51am)
Alex Lees said
Tue Dec 4 6:25 PM, 2018
juv Iceland Gull at 11am this morning:
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S50413154
Rob Creek said
Mon Dec 3 9:34 PM, 2018
Rob Creek wrote:
Monday 3rd Dec
- juv Iceland Gull on 384 building again this morning 9.58am
No sign of the juvenile Iceland Gull in 45 minutes this afternoon. - 6 adult Great Black-backed Gulls - 4 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls - 1 Argentatus Herring Gull - 1 Grey Wagtail - 1 Dunnock - 2 Carrion Crow - 5 Jackdaw - plenty of Herring Gulls including 1 very dark individual 2nd year bird and thanks for age clarification Ian - Not many Black-headed Gulls this afternoon, they mustve chosen somewhere else to forage
Rob Creek said
Mon Dec 3 10:09 AM, 2018
Monday 3rd Dec
- juv Iceland Gull on 384 building again this morning 9.58am
Rob Creek said
Sun Dec 2 5:01 PM, 2018
Familiar faces at Redgate this afternoon and good to meet Ian Chisnall.
- juv Iceland Gull still present and showing well until around 2pm when I had to go. Sometimes it flew right above our heads.
- juv Iceland Gull turned up at main yard 12.31pm and showing well
Rob Creek said
Sat Dec 1 3:52 PM, 2018
- juvenile Iceland Gull was still present just after 3pm but then did a disappearing act and I didnt see it again.
Also of note... - 4 (minimum) Argentatus Herring Gulls - c200 Starling
Rob Creek said
Sat Dec 1 1:41 PM, 2018
- juvenile Iceland Gull still present at 1.41pm although mobile.
steven burke said
Sat Dec 1 11:53 AM, 2018
Juvenile iceland gull has been on & off the 384 building since 10.45am still currently present. Black headed gulls Lesser black backed gulls Herring gull Common gull Great black backed gull Have not noticed any rings on any gulls.
Possibility of 2 birds in the area Ian or am I overthinking it and its simply flown to Audy Res literally as I left?
It is of course possible but Birdguides’ timings may be rough depending on where they got the news from and the precise timing from the observer but it’s only a 5 minute flight from Redgate to Audy if it‘s being liesurley.
Rob Creek said
Tue Nov 13 6:38 PM, 2018
BirdGuides reported a juv Iceland Gull at Audenshaw Reservoirs present at 15.00hrs yesterday. The Iceland Gull I saw at Redgate was still present at 2.45pm (as my break was coming to an end).
Possibility of 2 birds in the area Ian or am I overthinking it and its simply flown to Audy Res literally as I left?
(ps knock an hour off my camera times).
Rob Creek said
Mon Nov 12 2:26 PM, 2018
Monday 12th Nov 2018
- juvenile Iceland Gull currently present, on 384 building and the orange prefabs 2.26pm
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 12th of November 2018 05:37:25 PM
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 12th of November 2018 05:38:02 PM
Had a reply from Mike Jackson today, the ringed Gull is indeed one of his. This is what I received.
Thanks for reporting your sighting of a colour ringed Gull. Ringing details are as follows:-
Colour ring number Y:685
BTO ring number GV 42661
Species Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)
Age when rung BTO code 3
Ringing Site, Harewood Whin, York (53.960 -1.177)
Date of ringing 7th October 2016
It was previously reported from Heaton Park Reservoir, Greater Manchester on 6th January 2017.
It looks like I've incorrectly aged the Gull. It was ringed in October 2016 and the BTO Code 3 means it hatched in that year so it's now in its 3rd year. Once again it proves to me just how difficult trying to age Gulls can be.
Rob Creek said
Fri Oct 12 7:25 PM, 2018
Thursday 11th October
- A ringed Herring Gull Y:685 present this afternoon. Looks like a 2nd year bird coming into its 2nd winter. Think it's a York ringed bird, one of Mike Jackson's, and I'm currently awaiting a reply.
Rob Creek said
Sat Sep 15 10:50 AM, 2018
- Peregrine high over Redgate 10.42am towards city centre. Appeared large and pale in colour.
Rob Creek said
Sat Sep 15 8:35 AM, 2018
- 2 Ring-necked Parakeets over at 8.24am heading towards Openshaw
Rob Creek said
Fri Sep 14 7:13 PM, 2018
I had a reply regarding the Gull below, thanks Ian, I couldn't find anything on cr-Birding.
Tim Frayling, Senior Environmental Specialist in Ornithology. Natural England.
- Lesser Black-backed Gull - Green colour ring N:E29 - BTO ring no. GV58119 - Date ringed : 26/06/2018 - Ringing site : Langden, Bowland, Lancashire. - Grid Ref : SD5750
This is the first re-sighting of this bird since it was ringed in June.
- Juv Lesser Black-backed Gull this afternoon bearing a light green ring on it's left with alphanumeric code N:E29. I will update as soon as I get a reply.
Rob Creek said
Sun Aug 12 6:32 PM, 2018
This lunchtime... - 1 Swallow skimming the floor up Redgate Lane - 1 partially leucistic Carrion Crow present
Rob Creek said
Wed Jun 27 3:49 PM, 2018
Hard to tell exactly but their looks to be in excess of around 120 Gulls this afternoon and all but a few (Herring Gull) look to be Lesser Black-backed !!!
Rob Creek said
Sun Jun 24 11:05 PM, 2018
A route change due to me covering other drivers, and a quiet period for Gull scarcities has meant I've not managed to add anything to this or the Smithfield thread, but I thought this was worth a mention.
Saturday 23rd June approx 12.30pm. - Lesser Black-backed Gulls 41 (mainly adults) on the 384 building. It got better as another 24 came in to land making it 65 on the building alone. More were still flying in but the refuse mound sounded as though it was being turned over and they all took to the air in a swirling mass.
1 adult Great Black-backed Gull and 2 adult Herring Gull looked a little bit out of place in amongst all those, but as expected they weren't phased and didn't move until the whole lot went up. Nice to see some Gulls in numbers for a change.
Rob Creek said
Mon Apr 30 9:09 PM, 2018
Today approx 2.50pm. Having had virtually nothing here recently, I was pleased with a sighting of decent quality for this site towards the end of my tacho break today.
- 1 Rook flew really low up Redgate Lane towards the Auctions (BCA). Bit surprised but then again I'm not sure where the closest Rookery to the city centre is for it to be unusual as such.
Rob Creek said
Tue Apr 3 5:57 PM, 2018
After 2 weeks of hardly a single Gull here (or at Smithfield for that matter) nice to finally see something of interest this afternoon, mainly Corvids though.
- 5 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls - 2 1st W Herring Gulls - 1 Raven high over, totally unexpected! - 1 Jay flew up Redgate Lane towards BCA - 3 Carrion Crow - 4 Jackdaw - 3 Magpie
Rob Creek said
Mon Mar 19 11:20 PM, 2018
Rob Creek wrote:
Just to update on the colour ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull I saw below.
I contacted a few Gull ringing schemes, the ones that came up on cr-birding when you go through the options of the ring combination. I got email notifications of 'no such email address' one of those being an Icelandic scheme, but I did get replies from 2 others in the last few days.
Firstly from a Danish ringing scheme to say it isn't one of theirs and they haven't seen that combination before. Secondly from a French ringing scheme that dealt with Gulls touched by Botulism but it's not one of theirs either.
So this one may not be traceable for its history, for the time being, like you suggested Ian...it could be a discontinued ringing scheme.
Pete Rock (ringing coordinator) has been in touch and identified the ring combination on this Lesser Black-backed Gull as being done by Glasgow University, I've emailed Pat Monaghan there and I'm currently waiting on a reply.
Rob Creek said
Sat Mar 17 11:10 PM, 2018
Just to update on the colour ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull I saw below.
I contacted a few Gull ringing schemes, the ones that came up on cr-birding when you go through the options of the ring combination. I got email notifications of 'no such email address' one of those being an Icelandic scheme, but I did get replies from 2 others in the last few days.
Firstly from a Danish ringing scheme to say it isn't one of theirs and they haven't seen that combination before. Secondly from a French ringing scheme that dealt with Gulls touched by Botulism but it's not one of theirs either.
So this one may not be traceable for its history, for the time being, like you suggested Ian...it could be a discontinued ringing scheme.
Rob Creek said
Sat Mar 17 10:00 PM, 2018
Today approx 1pm.
Not been many Gulls to see here this week and on the couple of occasions there were some present... the majority of them were very high up circling, so today made a welcome change.
- 7 adult Great Black-backed Gulls - 10 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls - 2 adult Argenteus Herring Gull (no Argentatus seen) - 2 Common Gull - c150 Black-headed Gulls
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Saturday 17th of March 2018 10:02:43 PM
Rob Creek said
Mon Mar 12 6:08 PM, 2018
Late post for Monday 5th March.
- 1st Winter Caspian Gull on the 384 building.
A quick stop and scan that paid off. I wasn't even sure it was one, I'd gone over a few Caspian features in my mind and some looked good but then some other features I thought looked good for Herring Gull. I sent the images to Ian and explained I wasn't sure but opted for Herring Gull. Many thanks to Ian and the County Rarities Committee who have accepted it as a Caspian Gull.
Tried 3 different email addresses on the cr-Birding site for the possibility of it being an Icelandic bird but all 3 attempts came back with "unable to send as no such email or user"
I can't compete with Johns excellent Caspian gull photos, but here are a few shots of the Iceland gull, a couple showing the upper primaries.
Another attempt in better weather than yesterday.
3rd w. Caspian Gull showed well but went missing for long periods
Juv Iceland Gull
43 Great Black-backed Gulls on BCA roof (no sign of the smaller, possible hybrid bird)
Cheers, John
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Monday 24th of December 2018 04:32:23 PM
Caspian gull 3rd win X106 still this morning, also juvenile Iceland gull.
Nice Caspian! It would be fantastic if someone could get a photos of the black-backed gull's upperwing, the pics in the checklist were taken in very poor light but the bird is much paler than a regular GBBG and primary pattern and streaking are also anomalous....
3rd w. Caspian Gull X106 was flitting around but wouldn't settle long enough for photos.
Juv Iceland Gull also present
Cheers, John
- 3rd winter Caspian Gull X106 still here
- juvenile Iceland Gull still here
- 35+ Great Black-backed Gulls
- 11 Argentatus Herring Gull
Juvenile iceland gull also.
I think Ive just caught it from a different angle and a its fooled me. The yellow legs are evident (not that that wouldve ruled out Caspian) but couple that with the correct hue of grey mantle and I think its a perfect fit.
Ive also had a reply from Dr. Ronald Klein in Germany. It is a German ringed Caspian Gull from a mixed colony, and one that was previously found in GM by Ian McKerchar, and then seen again in Shaw (Oldham), thanks for that info Ian. We actually went to try and find this Gull in Shaw but dipped on it, I didnt make the link with the ring number.
Below is the life history info that I was sent.
Cheers
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Sunday 23rd of December 2018 10:09:56 AM
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Sunday 23rd of December 2018 10:13:38 AM
- juvenile Iceland Gull present briefly and mobile
- adult Yellow-legged Gull again briefly and disappeared
Alex the Gull youve singled out was there this afternoon and I too thought it was a little bit different but I just put it down to Great Black-backed. Probably not that noticeable to some but it appeared ever so slightly paler mantled than some of the others and something about it said give it another look Rob, but my attention was drawn away from that one and with good reason.
I hope Im right in my identification and if Im wrong then Ill quite happily edit my post appropriately.
- Caspian Gull (3rd winter??) Ring No: X106
What a magnificent looking Gull. It was on BCA Auctions roof firstly then flew over towards the main Redgate yard and I managed a few ok shots.
- possible adult Caspian Gull not ringed
Not 100% sure on this and again Ill quite happily accept defeat if Im wrong. Images of both Gulls attached.
21st December
I had the Iceland Gull yesterday around 3pm and an odd-looking black-backed gull that had me wondering about Slaty-backed until it spread its wings and now just has me scratching my head; potentially a hybrid GBBGxHEGU pics: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S50840788 anyone else seen it?
-- Edited by Alex Lees on Saturday 22nd of December 2018 03:52:30 PM
- adult Yellow-legged Gull on 384 building at 10.14am.
(In my opinion looks like the same one as the other day)
- Ringing date 30th June 2017
- BTO ring no.GV58522
- BTO ringing code 10 (exact age unknown/hatched at least 4yrs ago)
- Ringed at Harewood Whin Landfill, York
- Mine is the 1st sighting since ringed
Cheers
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Tuesday 18th of December 2018 10:58:18 PM
Pics of the Iceland Gull from this morning: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S50742777
I have had Great Black-backed Gulls at lots of sites around Manchester in the last few days, seems to be a big incursion....
-- Edited by Alex Lees on Tuesday 18th of December 2018 09:17:35 AM
1 - Yellow-legged Gull at the top of the image
2 - Herring Gull ring no.Y:G07
3 - juv Iceland Gull
4 - Yellow-legged Gull flying off
5 - Argentatus Herring Gull
- adult Yellow-legged Gull now at Redgate on 384 building
- juv Iceland Gull still on 384 building
- Great Black-backed Gulls up to around 35
- Argentatus Herring Gull at least 9
- also ringed Herring Gull Y:G07
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 17th of December 2018 02:21:18 PM
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 17th of December 2018 02:30:27 PM
- juv Iceland Gull on 384 building at 10.11am, still here now 1.17pm
- 20+ adult Great Black-backed Gulls
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 17th of December 2018 10:22:22 PM
- juv Iceland Gull was present (and for the most part showed well) until around 2.20pm when a low flying helicopter came over and flushed everything from the rooftops and the yard.
Most of the other Gulls returned within a minute but I didnt see the Iceland Gull again after that.
Also of note...
- 12 minimum adult Great Black-backed Gulls
- 7 minimum Argentatus Herring Gulls
- juv Iceland Gull currently on the 384 building (1.56pm onwards)
- juv Iceland Gull present approx 11am this morning, but apart from a couple of flyover glimpses was keeping more to the BCA (car auctions) area and wasnt showing particularly well.
I see it was reported at Redgate after 3pm, and was also reported at Audenshaw shortly before.
- juv Iceland Gull still present, currently on 384 building (11.51am)
juv Iceland Gull at 11am this morning:
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S50413154
No sign of the juvenile Iceland Gull in 45 minutes this afternoon.
- 6 adult Great Black-backed Gulls
- 4 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Argentatus Herring Gull
- 1 Grey Wagtail
- 1 Dunnock
- 2 Carrion Crow
- 5 Jackdaw
- plenty of Herring Gulls including 1 very dark individual 2nd year bird and thanks for age clarification Ian
- Not many Black-headed Gulls this afternoon, they mustve chosen somewhere else to forage
- juv Iceland Gull on 384 building again this morning 9.58am
Familiar faces at Redgate this afternoon and good to meet Ian Chisnall.
- juv Iceland Gull still present and showing well until around 2pm when I had to go. Sometimes it flew right above our heads.
- juv Iceland Gull turned up at main yard 12.31pm and showing well
Also of note...
- 4 (minimum) Argentatus Herring Gulls
- c200 Starling
Black headed gulls
Lesser black backed gulls
Herring gull
Common gull
Great black backed gull
Have not noticed any rings on any gulls.
- juvenile Iceland Gull present at Redgate 3.10pm - 3.29pm and no further sign since then. Probably at Audenshaw now.
It is of course possible but Birdguides’ timings may be rough depending on where they got the news from and the precise timing from the observer but it’s only a 5 minute flight from Redgate to Audy if it‘s being liesurley.
The Iceland Gull I saw at Redgate was still present at 2.45pm (as my break was coming to an end).
Possibility of 2 birds in the area Ian or am I overthinking it and its simply flown to Audy Res literally as I left?
(ps knock an hour off my camera times).
- juvenile Iceland Gull currently present, on 384 building and the orange prefabs 2.26pm
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 12th of November 2018 05:37:25 PM
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Monday 12th of November 2018 05:38:02 PM
Thanks for reporting your sighting of a colour ringed Gull.
Ringing details are as follows:-
Colour ring number Y:685
BTO ring number GV 42661
Species Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)
Age when rung BTO code 3
Ringing Site, Harewood Whin, York (53.960 -1.177)
Date of ringing 7th October 2016
It was previously reported from Heaton Park Reservoir, Greater Manchester on 6th January 2017.
It looks like I've incorrectly aged the Gull. It was ringed in October 2016 and the BTO Code 3 means it hatched in that year so it's now in its 3rd year. Once again it proves to me just how difficult trying to age Gulls can be.
- A ringed Herring Gull Y:685 present this afternoon. Looks like a 2nd year bird coming into its 2nd winter.
Think it's a York ringed bird, one of Mike Jackson's, and I'm currently awaiting a reply.
I had a reply regarding the Gull below, thanks Ian, I couldn't find anything on cr-Birding.
Tim Frayling,
Senior Environmental Specialist in Ornithology.
Natural England.
- Lesser Black-backed Gull
- Green colour ring N:E29
- BTO ring no. GV58119
- Date ringed : 26/06/2018
- Ringing site : Langden, Bowland, Lancashire.
- Grid Ref : SD5750
This is the first re-sighting of this bird since it was ringed in June.
- Juv Lesser Black-backed Gull this afternoon bearing a light green ring on it's left with alphanumeric code N:E29.
I will update as soon as I get a reply.
- 1 Swallow skimming the floor up Redgate Lane
- 1 partially leucistic Carrion Crow present
Saturday 23rd June approx 12.30pm.
- Lesser Black-backed Gulls 41 (mainly adults) on the 384 building. It got better as another 24 came in to land making it 65 on the building alone. More were still flying in but the refuse mound sounded as though it was being turned over and they all took to the air in a swirling mass.
1 adult Great Black-backed Gull and 2 adult Herring Gull looked a little bit out of place in amongst all those, but as expected they weren't phased and didn't move until the whole lot went up.
Nice to see some Gulls in numbers for a change.
Having had virtually nothing here recently, I was pleased with a sighting of decent quality for this site towards the end of my tacho break today.
- 1 Rook flew really low up Redgate Lane towards the Auctions (BCA). Bit surprised but then again I'm not sure where the closest Rookery to the city centre is for it to be unusual as such.
- 5 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 1st W Herring Gulls
- 1 Raven high over, totally unexpected!
- 1 Jay flew up Redgate Lane towards BCA
- 3 Carrion Crow
- 4 Jackdaw
- 3 Magpie
Pete Rock (ringing coordinator) has been in touch and identified the ring combination on this Lesser Black-backed Gull as being done by Glasgow University, I've emailed Pat Monaghan there and I'm currently waiting on a reply.
I contacted a few Gull ringing schemes, the ones that came up on cr-birding when you go through the options of the ring combination. I got email notifications of 'no such email address' one of those being an Icelandic scheme, but I did get replies from 2 others in the last few days.
Firstly from a Danish ringing scheme to say it isn't one of theirs and they haven't seen that combination before.
Secondly from a French ringing scheme that dealt with Gulls touched by Botulism but it's not one of theirs either.
So this one may not be traceable for its history, for the time being, like you suggested Ian...it could be a discontinued ringing scheme.
Not been many Gulls to see here this week and on the couple of occasions there were some present... the majority of them were very high up circling, so today made a welcome change.
- 7 adult Great Black-backed Gulls
- 10 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 adult Argenteus Herring Gull (no Argentatus seen)
- 2 Common Gull
- c150 Black-headed Gulls
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Saturday 17th of March 2018 10:02:43 PM
- 1st Winter Caspian Gull on the 384 building.
A quick stop and scan that paid off. I wasn't even sure it was one, I'd gone over a few Caspian features in my mind and some looked good but then some other features I thought looked good for Herring Gull. I sent the images to Ian and explained I wasn't sure but opted for Herring Gull.
Many thanks to Ian and the County Rarities Committee who have accepted it as a Caspian Gull.