Rufford Again - 23rd December 2024

 I was back at Rufford yesterday. Unfortunately, Black-headed Gull numbers were slightly down on my last visit (c150), but I still spotted 13 ringed birds, and, what is potentially a new species for this site, a Caspian Gull. 10 Goosander (6 males and 4 females) were also seen, as were a pair of Gadwall and 4 Teal.

Black-headed Gulls seen were: 258A, 273A, 293A, 295A, 280B, 202C, 207C, 258C, 264C, 298C, 223F, 234F and 261F.

The Caspian Gull landed briefly on the lake, and I managed 4 photos before it flew off.

Rufford - 14th December 2024

 Every time I visit Rufford, I seem to be  spotting more and more of "our" green-ringed Black-headed Gulls. Last week's visit, was no different, with no fewer than 24 birds, spotted, including one not seen for three years!!

Birds seen were: 206A, 259A, 273A, 295A, 298A (my first sighting since being ringed in 15th December 2021, but, annoyingly, no photo!), 208B (ringed in January 2022, and this was only the second sighting, last seen at Clumber, in March 2023), 265B (ringed on 5th November 2022. This was only the second sighting, having last been seen, at Center Parcs on 2nd December 2022. This was my first sighting at Rufford),  272B, 280B (ringed by me in November 2022, and a regular visitor ever since), 202C, 207C, 258C, 264C, 270C, 298C, 207F, 219F, 223F, 230F, 234F, 239F, 255F (my first sighting, ringed on 30th November 2024, as a 3, i.e. born this year), 261F and 262F (both fist sightings, and both also ringed on 30th November 2024, as 3s).

208B

265B

255F

261F

262F

In addition, to "our" gulls, there were also approximately 250 other Black-headed Gulls, 100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 10 Herring Gulls, Common Gulls, 22 Canada Geese, 15 Greylag Geese, 17 Gadwall (my first record for the site?) and 7 Goosander (6m and 1fm).

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

P519 is back!

 I had my first visit to Rufford for a few weeks yesterday, and, in a couple of hours, I'd spotted 22 ringed birds; 21 of "ours" and a familiar face, P519.

P519 is a Lithuanian-ringed bird (ringed, as an adult, on 1st April 2010, 1,456km away). I first spotted this bird in February 2019, although it had been seen here, by other observers, in January and November 2018. It has been seen every winter since then. Yesterday's sighting was the first of the winter.

P519

Other ringed gulls were: 255A, 258A, 259A, 277A, 293A, 295A, 242B (my first sighting), 202C, 207C, 245C, 246C (my 1st sighting), 258C, 264C, 270C, 273C, 207F, 214F, 217F, 219F, 220F, 223F and 225F (all the F birds are my 1st sightings).

Other birds seen were: Greylag Geese (c150, including  a ringed bird, 5230485, which had been ringed in April 2024), Canada Geese (c.100), 6 Mute Swans (Broken Beak, his partner and 3 cygnets, plus another adult female) and 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.