Another Superb Weekend!

High tide and hungry gulls resulted in a stunning start to the weekend at Chouet Landfill, where in 90 minutes or so on Saturday morning I recorded 178 of my cr Herring Gulls, along with 10 Great Black-backed Gulls (including the same Norwegian bird as last weekend). I have not yet had a chance to enter all the records, but I know that several of these Herring Gulls have been seen this winter in France - so the breeding birds are coming home! A superb adult Yellow-legged Gull was a nice surprise too. Only one (unringed) Lesser Black-backed Gull was recorded - maybe next weekend will see the first returning colour ringed bird. In 2011 I saw my first returning LBBG on 15 January!

On Sunday morning Chris Mourant and I took a catch of just under 50 Herring Gulls - a good test for Risto's new colour rings. The catch included a bird Chris had metal ringed as a chick at Jerbourg Cliffs, Guernsey in June 2010. Just as we were finishing a Great Black-backed Gull showed interest - so we caught him to- a huge, heavy male!