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!!!)

Rufford - 6th December 2025

Last Saturday, I had a quick, 1 hour session at Rufford recording 17 of "our" darvic-ringed Black-headed Gulls.

Gulls seen were: 206A (my first sighting since March 2025), 295A (2nd sighting this winter), 272B (first sighting since January 2025), 280B (2nd sighting this winter), 202C (2nd sighting this winter), 207C (ninth sighting this winter), 215C (first sighting since March 2024 - full hood already!!), 270C (third sighting this winter), 298C (second sighting this winter), 215F (third sighting this winter), 221F (fifth sighting this winter), 234F (seventh sighting this winter), 259F (3rd sighting this winter), 292F (first sighting since February 2025), 200H (my first sighting, since ringing on 15th November 2025), 215H (first sighting, since ringing on 22nd November 2025) and 225H (first sighting since being ringed that morning). 

215C

200H

215H

225H

Also seen were: 5 Mute Swans (Broken Beak, his partner and 3 cygnets) and 10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Rufford - 15th November 2025

 Yesterday, I had a couple of hours at Rufford. It had been raining very heavily for the previous twenty four hours (!), and the water levels were very high. There were only about 50 Black-headed Gulls there, but I did manage to see 8 ringed birds.

The "best" bird was 223A, a bird that was originally ringed, as an adult, on 13th February 2019. Since then, it has been recorded just 4 times in the UK, and once in Denmark, on 19th October 2025. My sighting was my first, since February 2022 (!), so was long overdue. Welcome back!

223A

Other birds seen for the first time this winter were: 280B (ringed by me, as an adult, in November 2022, and last recorded on 15th February 2025) and 298C (ringed, as a 2nd calendar year bird, on 4th February 2024 and last seen on 2nd March 2025). 

280B

298C

The other birds seen were: 207C (8th time since July), 270C (2nd sighting this winter), 221F (4th sighting this winter), 234F (6th sighting this winter) and 259F (2nd sighting, since being ringed on 18th October 2025).

"Broken Beak" was also on the water, along with his partner and 3 well grown cygnets. Other birds seen were: Grey Wagtail (1 adult an 1 juvenile), 1 Buzzard (overhead) and  a single "redhead" Goosander. 

Broken Beak and family

Rufford - 29th October 2025

 On Wednesday 29th, I popped across to The Carrs, at Church Warsop, to see if there were any ringed gulls around. I saw 2 new birds. Afterwards, I went across to Rufford, and spotted another 20 (!) ringed gulls, including P519, the Lithuanian-ringed bird, that I first saw in January 2019.

The two birds seen at The Carrs were 277C (ringed in January 2024, as an age 5, born in 2023) and 201F  (ringed in February 2024, also as an age 5).

277C

Arriving at Rufford, there were about 250 Black-headed Gulls, including a lot of birds not seen before, or not seen this winter. The highlight for me was P519, back for, at least, its 8th winter.

P519

Other birds seen were: 285A, 295A (1st sighting this winter), 269B (1st Rufford sighting), 202C (1st sighting this winter), 207C, 258C, 270C (1st sighting this winter), 273C (1st sighting this winter), 214F, 221F, 223F (1st sighting this winter), 234F, 239F, 259F (a 1st winter bird, ringed on 18/10/25), 261F (1st sighting since December 2024), 262F, 287F (my first sighting), 2V05 (1st sighting since January 25), 2V10 and 2V16.

269B

259F

287F

Other birds seen were: Kingfisher (1), Common Gull (1), Lesser Black-backed Gull (2 adults), Mute Swan (4 unringed adults) and the first Goosander of the winter (10 birds; 8 redheads and 2 males).

Common Gull

Rufford - 12th October 2025

Last Sunday, I was down at Rufford for a couple of hours, and had the best session of the autumn so far with 18 ringed birds (16 of "ours", a metal-ringed bird and a brand new Dutch-ringed bird) spotted.

The 16 birds were: 2V10 (2nd sighting this autumn), 2V16 (2nd sighting this autumn), 258A (4th sighting this autumn), 273A (2nd sighting this autumn), 283B (2nd sighting this autumn), 207C (6th sighting this autumn), 245C (3rd sighting this autumn), 258C (7th sighting this autumn), 209F (1st sighting, since ringing, as a 1st winter bird, in October 2024), 214F (1st sighting this autumn), 215F (2nd sighting this autumn), 217F (2nd sighting this autumn), 221F (2nd sighting this autumn), 234F (4th sighting this autumn), 239F (2nd sighting this autumn) and 262F (1st sighting on the autumn. Last seen in December 2024). The metal ringed bird was EM21570 (2nd sighting this autumn). 

209F

214F

262F

The new, Dutch-ringed bird, was an adult, with a white darvic EV.V2. It was originally ringed, as an adult, on 7th June 2022 at Berkel en Rodenrijs, The Netherlands, by Benny Middendorp. It was reported here again on 9th June 2022, and again on 10th March 2024, before my sighting at Rufford.

EVV2

Rufford Visit - 2nd September 2025

 Yesterday, I had my first visit to Rufford for a couple of weeks. It was bright sunshine (with a few rain showers) and 20 degrees, and there were about 70 Black-headed Gulls (c.40 juveniles). 7 darviced gulls were seen, and a new, metal-ringed bird was also spotted.

The darviced birds were: 258A (2nd sighting this autumn/winter), 207C (4th sighting since July), 258C (fourth sighting this autumn/winter), 221F (last seen in February 2025), 234F (second sighting this autumn/winter), 255F (first sighting since January 2025) and 2V03 (2nd sighting this autumn/winter).

221F

255F

The metal-ringed bird (EM21570) was a 3, i.e. born this year. It had been ringed, as a pullus, on 10th June, 158km away, at Marlingford Hall, Norfolk. This is, unsurprisingly, the first sighting since ringing. Hopefully, it'll hang around for the winter.

EM21570

In addition to the gulls, I also recorded 7 Mute Swans, including the 2 unringed birds seen last visit, along with 2 more adults (Broken Beak and his partner) and their 3 new cygnets, 2 Kingfishers, 1 House Martin, dozens of Canada and Greylag Geese, 1 Grey Wagtail, Mallards and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Broken Beak and family

Lesser Black-backed Gull

In addition to those sightings, I also saw a familiar Black-headed Gull in Bakewell on Monday. It was quite a brief sighting, but enough to get the metal ring EW97345. This is a bird I first saw, in Bakewell, back in September 2018. The bird had been ringed, as an adult (at least 2 years old), in Boston, Lincolnshire on 9th January 2010. Monday's sighting was my first since July 2021.

EW97345

Rufford Update - 15th February 2025

 I've just had a look at the blog, and realised that I haven't posted this month yet!! During this time, I've had a couple of visits to Rufford (both cold and rainy!), adding a few new Black-headed Gulls to the list.

The first visit, on 8th February, saw the following birds reported: 273A, 295A, 202C, 207C, 258C, 264C, 273C, 298C, 221F, 234F and 2V16 (my first sighting, about 2 hours after ringing!)

2V16

On yesterday's visit, 15th February, I saw: 258A, 273A, 293A, 295A, 280B, 202C, 207C, 255C (the first ever sighting, since being ringed, as a 1st year bird, in November 2023!), 264C, 207F, 221F, 234F, 292F and Lithuanian-ringed bird, P519 (first sighting since 4th January).

255C

292F

P519

Rufford - 18th January 2025

 Yesterday morning, I had a couple of hours at Rufford, before grandparenting duties took over. Whilst there, I managed to add 3 new Year Ticks, as well as spending some time checking the gulls.

I arrived on site at 8am, and parked up in the main car park. Within about 10 minutes, 4 Hawfinch (112) flew into the trees and posed beautifully. Unfortunately, the light was terrible, but I still managed a decent enough record shot.

Hawfinch

I then set off around the lake, where I added Stock Dove (113) and Marsh Tit (114) to this year's list. The Marsh Tit (s) were seen around the feeding station, and I managed to get a shot, showing the distinctive  white spot, on the lower mandible.

Marsh Tit

Carrying on to my usual spot, by the main lake, I was surprised to see c.100 Black-headed Gulls hanging around, waiting for breakfast, along with 6 Lesser Black-backs and a couple of Common Gulls. The Group ran out of green darvic rings a few weeks ago, so yellow ones have been used. Two of these birds were spotted: 2V00 and 2V05.

2V00

2V05

Other ringed birds were: 293A, 280B, 207C, 258C, 264C, 273C, 207F, 219F, 221F, 234F and 276F.

3 Mute Swans (Broken Beak, his partner and 1 juvenile), Kingfisher (heard), Siskins and 10 Goosander (7 males and 3 females), were also  recorded.

Rufford Gulls - 24th November 2024

Storm Bert put pay to any ringing this weekend, so instead, I headed over to Rufford to check up on the gulls. I was there for just under two hours, and saw 16 ringed Black-headed Gulls.

Birds seen were: 273A , 293A, 280B (ringed by me, as an adult, in November 2022, and my first sighting since 20th January 2024), 207C, 264C, 270C, 273C, 298C (ringed in February 2024, as a 5, i.e. born in 2023, and my first siting this winter), 207F, 220F, 221F, 223F, 230F, 234F, 239F (a new bird) and 244F (a new bird).

239F (age 3, born this year)

244F (age 3)

Clumber and Rufford - 16th November 2024

 On Saturday, I was out at Clumber Park, with the family. Whilst there, I had a quick check of the Black-headed Gulls and Mute Swans, finding a couple of ringed birds.

The first bird I saw was a Polish-ringed Black-headed Gull, TV02. I checked the number, and realised it was a bird I had first seen, at Clumber, back in February 2023. See the post here, for details, and a picture of this bird, as a 2nd year bird.

TV02

The second bird I saw was a ringed Mute Swan, Y404. This is a new bird for me. I'll update, when I find out where it was ringed. A single Great (White) Egret was also seen on the main lake.

Y404

After Clumber, Jayne and I had a very quick, half an hour, visit to Rufford, where I managed to spot 14 of "our" darvic-ringed Black-headed Gulls: 273A, 277A, 293A, 293B, 207C, 264C, 273C, 207F, 217F, 221F (new), 223F,  229F (new), 230F (new) and 234F (new).

221F

229F

230F

234F