Often the most exciting reports of my colour ringed gulls come from overseas...but today that was different. Although I could only find seven Lesser Black-backed Gulls on Guernsey's west coast this morning one of them was Black 9C2 - an adult male ringed on 18 May 2011 at Chouet landfill, Guernsey. This gull has now been recorded on Guernsey's west coast on 11 occasions between 8th September and 1st December - and I think it is fair to conclude that this bird is wintering in the islands. That is not to say that it may not be making feeding trips to the south coast of England, but clearly its base is here on Guernsey. This is significant because it is the very first example I have of a locally breeding gull wintering on the island. The vast majority of Guernsey's Lesser Black-backed Gulls remain migratory - with the majority wintering in Iberia or even further south in NW Africa. A minority winters in NW France and a few even winter in southern England.
LBBG Black 9C2 - a rather special LBBG - Vazon Beach 01 December 2011 - PKV
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