Despite the rain and strong winds, I popped across to Rufford on Saturday, and I'm very glad I did! Not only did I spot 8 darvic ringed gulls (my highest ever in one session), but, more importantly, I managed to read the metal ring of the new gull, JO116, and confirm that it is a Norwegian-ringed bird. It's a first winter bird, so will have been ringed as a pullus this summer. Exact details will be added as and when I get them back.
VO116
Another highlight of Saturday's visit was my first sighting of the Dutch-ringed adult bird, EUM3, since 20th July. I was getting worried that I hadn't see it for so long, so it was very nice to confirm it was alive and well. It was a quite distinctive head pattern when in winter plumage, with the two bands of dark feathers.
EUM3
A new gull (for me) was an adult bird, 223A. This bird was ringed at the start of February 2019, and had only been seen once since ringing at Center Parcs (2km away) on 18th November 2019. My sighting was the first of this winter. It spent all the time, preening on the pontoon. Hopefully, it'll become a regular sighting this winter.
223A
The other gulls seen on Saturday were well known birds: 217A, 240A, 246A, 258A and Lithuanian-ringed P519 (click on the birds' labels for full details of ringing details and previous sightings).
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