Rufford-17th January 2026

Last weekend, I had a couple of hours at Rufford. The ice had all gone, and there were fewer Black-headed Gulls (c.150),  but I still managed to see 14 ringed birds, including the Lithuanian- ringed P519 (now back for at least its 8th winter (first record was in January 2018), and first ringed, as an adult, in April 2010, so born, at the latest in 2008).

P519

Other birds seen were: 258A, 280B, 202C, 207C, 209C, 215C, 258C, 270C, 298C, 200H, 208H, 225H and 2V16.

3 new  birds were added to the Year List too: Red-legged Partridge (78), Song Thrush (79) and Marsh Tit (80).

Rufford - 3rd January 2026

Back at the start of the year, when we'd had a couple of days of very cold weather, I went across to Rufford, for my first visit of the year. I love going when there is a lot of ice (c.80%), as this means many of the ringed gulls are sat on the ice, and therefore, their rings can be more easily read. as a result, on my first visit of the year, I saw 28 ringed birds!

The birds seen were: 206A (3rd sighting this winter), 258A (7th sighting this winter) , 273A (4th sighting this winter), 284A (2nd sighting this winter ), 208B (3rd sighting this winter), 272B (3rd sighting this winter), 274B (my 1st sighting since ringing in November 2022), 280B (3rd sighting this winter ), 293B (1st sighting since November 2024), 202C (5th sighting this winter), 207C (12th sighting this winter), 209C (1st sighting since March 2023), 215C (2nd sighting this winter), 258C (9th sighting this winter ), 273C (4th sighting this winter), 298C (5th sighting this winter), 207F (1st sighting this winter), 221F (7th sighting this winter), 222F (1st sighting since ringing on 2nd November 2024), 230F (1st sighting since March 2025), 2V05 (2nd sighting this winter), 2V16 (5th sighting this winter), 200H (3rd sighting this winter), 208H (2nd sighting this winter ), 209H (1st sighting this winter), 225H (3rd sighting this winter), 230H (1st sighting since ringing in Dec 2025) and 233H (1st sighting since ringing in Dec 2025).

274B

293B

209C

In addition to these birds, I also spotted a Swedish metal-ringed bird. Annoyingly, I only managed to see six of the seven numbers (_449368!!!)

Clumber and Rufford - 12th March 2023

 On Sunday, I spent an hour at Clumber and an hour at Rufford, checking the Black-headed Gulls.

Although there were several hundreds gulls at Clumber (mostly Black-headed, but also Common and Herring) I only managed to spot one ringed bird, 208B. As it turned out, this bird was a new one for me, and this sighting was the first since being ringed, at Center Parcs, on 15th January 2022, as an adult bird. As you can see, it's in full breeding plumage, and looking very smart!

208B

Rufford was quieter, with just 100ish Black-headed Gulls around, but I did manage to see 12 green-ringed birds; 206A, 279A, 284A, 295A, 202B, 255B, 276B, 293B, 202C, 207C, 209C, 214C and 215C and a familiar metal-ringed bird EL87245. 

In addition to 208B, I also had 2 other new birds: 209C and 214C. 209C had been ringed at Center Parcs on 22nd December 2022, as a 3, born in 2022.

209C

214C, also a 1st winter bird, born in 2022, had also been ringed at Center Parcs, on 28th December 2022. 

214C