Rufford - 2nd March 2025

 My latest visit to Rufford was on 2nd March, when I had an hour, and spotted 14 Black-headed Gulls, including new birds; 2V03 (ringed on 18th January, as a 5, born last year), 218F (ringed by me, as a 1st winter bird, on 12th October 2024) and J3018 ( a new Norwegian-ringed bird, that was ringed, as a free-flying juvenile, in Oslo, on 5th August 2024).

2V03

218F

J3018

Other gulls seen were: 206A, 258A, 273A, 293A, 251B, 254B, 207C, 258C, 270C, 298C and 230F.

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.

Rufford Gulls - 15th August 2023

 I had my first August visit to Rufford yesterday, to check on the gulls. After my last visit, at the end of July, gull numbers had picked up, to 52 Black-headed Gulls (10 juveniles), and I managed to see 3 of "our" green-ringed birds.

The first bird, 293A, was a familiar sight, this being the 20th record since ringing back in December 2021.

293A

The second bird, 245B, was my first sighting, since it was ringed in December 2022, at Center Parcs (2km away). The only other sighting was shortly after ringing, at Center Parcs.

245B

The third bird, 251B, was a special bird, as it was one I ringed, at Center Parcs, back in October 2022. It was aged as a 3 back then, i.e. born that year, making it just 1 year old. This sighting was the first since ringing.

251B

Other wildlife seen there included: Canada Goose (38, but no rings), Greylag Goose (4, no rings), House Martin (c.20), Swallow (6) and a single Volucella zonaria hoverfly - my first record at this site, and my first sighting of 2023.

Another of "our" gulls, 236B, a bird ringed as a pullus at Carsington Water in June 2022, was reported today. It was seen back there, so great to see another returning bird. 

Another 2 birds ringed there, 233B, and 222B, had previously been reported in Cheshire in December 2022 (60km away) and in Wales in July 2022.