Rufford Gulls - 17th October 2026

Yesterday afternoon, I managed a couple of hours at Rufford. It was the busiest session yet, with 18 of "our" Black-headed Gulls seen, along with a new, British-ringed bird as well!

Regular birds were: 206A (3rd sighting), 258A (5th sighting), 207C (6th sighting), 258C (3rd sighting), 207F (2nd sighting), 223F (2nd sighting), 239F (2nd sighting), 2V10 (2nd sighting), 2V16 (5th sighting), 200H (4th sighting), 208H (2nd sighting) and 225H (4th sighting).

Birds seen for the first time this season were: 202C (first sighting since February 2026), 215F (first sighting since December 2025), 230F (first sighting since January 2026), 209H (first sighting since March 2026), EM51827 and EM51828 (ringed last week - unfortunately without darvic rings).

202C

215F

230F

209H

The final gull of note was another darvic-ringed bird; green 2PJB. At first glance, this1st winter bird looked like one of our green ringed birds, but then I noticed the different inscription. After a quick internet search I found out that it was from Herefordshire. Full details will be added when I receive them.

2PJB

Other wildlife seen were: Common Gull (1 adult, the first of the season), Lesser Black-backed Gull (1 adult), Hornet (1), Canada Goose (c.40), Greylag Goose ( 8 over), Goosander (1 male, 1st of the season), Grey Heron (1), Grey Wagtail (2), Pied Wagtail (1) and the first Redwings (5 over) of the season.

Common Gull

Rufford Gulls - 4th October 2026

On Sunday, Jayne and I had a couple of hours at Rufford. Whilst there, we had the highest number of ringed Black-headed Gulls so far this autumn (13), re-found the Danish-ringed bird and recorded a new, Lithuanian-ringed bird.

Birds seen were: 206A (2nd sighting), 258A (4th sighting), 207C (5th sighting), 215C (1st sighting since January 2026), 258C (2nd sighting), 223F (1st sighting since October 2025), 239F (1st sighting since October 2025), 262F (1st sighting since October 2025), 2V10 (1st sighting since December 2025), 2V16 (4th sighting), 200H (3rd sighting), 208H (1st sighting since February 2026), 225H (4th sighting), VA9644 (2nd sighting) and the Lithuanian-ringed bird, HA65.146. 

215C

223F

239F

262F

2V10

208H

Lithuanian HA65.146

Also seen were: 1 Willow Emerald Damselfly and a single Red Admiral butterfly.

Rufford Gulls - 21st and 23rd December 2025

 This last week, whilst off school for the holidays, I had a couple of visits to Rufford to see the Black-headed Gulls. The first visit was on 21st December, when I recorded 21 green-ringed and the Lithuanian-ringed bird P519. A quick, 1 hour visit on 23rd had 12 green-ringed birds, P519 and, best of all, an adult Caspian Gull (thanks Luke!).

The green-ringed birds seen on 21st were: 206A, 273A, 284A, 208B, 272B, 202C, 207C, 269C, 270C, 273C, 298C, 2V10, 2V16, 221F, 227F, 241F, 292F, 200H, 207H, 208H and 225H.

284A - my first sighting since March 2023!

Birds seen on 23rd were: 258A, 208B, 202C, 207C, 273C, 298C, 234F, 292F, 2V16, 200H, 208H, 225H. P519 was also seen again.

208H 

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 Gulls - Old and New

I only had chance to spend half an hour at Rufford yesterday, but, in that short time, I manged to see 8 darvic-ringed Black-headed Gulls and a single metal-ringed bird. Along with this, I also managed to add a possible new breeding record for a damselfly species!

The birds seen were: 258A, 245C, 258C, 279C (a new, 1st-winter bird, ringed on Saturday), 215F (the first sighting since being ringed in October 2024),  217F ( my first sighting since February 2025), 239F (first sighting since January 2025) and 2V10 (my first sighting, since being ringed on 1st February 2025). The metal-ringed bird, a 1st winter, was seen, but not identified, as it flew off before I could read the ring! 

279C

215F

217F

239F

2V10

In addition to the gulls, there were also c100 Canada Geese, 4 Greylag Geese, 1 Kingfisher, 5 Mute Swans (Broken Beak, his partner and 3 cygnets), and 3 Willow Emerald Damselflies, including 1 pair egg laying - my first record here!!!

Willow Emerald Damselflies