It is rare to receive news of my cr Herring Gulls further south than Vendeé and Charente-Maritime in France, so I was very excited today to receive news from Xabi Varela that he has seen Herring Gull White 1.XX6 at the mouth of the Castro River, Lires, A Coruna in NW Spain some 888 km from Guernsey! This bird was ringed as an adult female in May 2009 at Chouet Landfill, during the first cannon netting visit of Paul Roper and members of the North Thames Gull Group. I saw it only once more in that year (on 01 July at Chouet). I presume it wintered off island, but was recorded again between 10 February and 08 August 2010 (including by Roland-Jan Buijs when he was on holiday in Guernsey).
There have been a few records of Herring Gull chicks ringed on Guernsey by Jamie Hooper migrating this far south in their first winters - indeed one of Jamie's Herring Gulls even went as far as northern Portugal, but it is rarer (although not unknown) for adult Herring Gulls to make such long journeys.
Herring Gull White 1.XX6 at Castro River, Lires, A Coruna, NW Spain - 25/12/10 - Xabi Varela
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