Last week, Jayne and I were in St Ives for a week, where I managed to spot 5 different colour-ringed Herring Gulls.
3 of the 5 birds were familiar birds, namely W:185, W:186 and W:195, all of whom I've seen there in previous years (see here).
W:185
W:186
W:195
As you can see from the ring numbers they were all ringed by the same people, West Cornwall Ringing Group in St Ives in June 2014 and have been reported in and around the same area ever since.
Whilst there, I also spotted 2 new birds; W:192 and 3KC1. W:192 was also ringed in St Ives in June 2014, but was spotted 4km away on the RSPB Hayle Estuary reserve, on 23rd July 2019, 5 years and 36 days since ringing. Unfortunately, it was too distant for a photograph.
The final bird, 3KC1, was seen in St Ives Harbour on 20th July 2019. This bird was found to have been ringed, by Guernsey Gulls, at Chouet Landfill site, Guernsey, on 12th May 2015, and aged as a 3rd year bird. My sighting was the 6th since ringing. All previous sightings had come from Cornwall (St Ives, Hayle Estuary and Newlyn Harbour), during the summer months, July August and September. There have not, yet, been any records during the winter months or from a breeding site.
3KC1
