Rufford Gulls - 25th February 2024

It's getting towards the end of the winter season now, and the Black-headed Gulls that over winter here will soon be setting off back to their breeding grounds. With this in mind, I had a visit to Rufford to see if I could record some rings, before they leave.

I was there for just over an hour, and, although there were only about 70 gulls left, I managed to record 9 green-ringed birds: 258A (31st sighting), 295A (15th sighting), 251B (ringed by me in October 2022, my 3rd sighting, and my first since November 2023), 254B (also ringed by me, in October 2022, and my 6th sighting), 215C (9th sighting), 258C (7th sighting), 267C (1st re-sighting since being ringed on 31st December 2023), 270C (3rd sighting) and 273C (5th re-sighting).  

267C

Whilst there, I also recorded 1 Common Gull, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 17 Canada Geese, 4 Greylag Geese and 33 Goosander (26 females and 7 males).

Another green-ringed Gull, 231C, that was ringed at Center Parcs in January 2023, was reported in Hull on 25th February 2024. It had previously been recorded in The Netherlands in March 2023 (presumably back on breeding grounds). It had also been seen in Otley and Leeds in winter 2023.