Very exciting news was received today from Dutch
ornithological researcher Tom van Spanje who, together with Mammadou Hamat Ndongo, observed a Guernsey-ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull in Mauretania – our first report from
this country! In fact only one other Channel Islands’-ringed LBBG has been
reported further south than this gull (a chick ringed on Burhou in July 2010
which wintered in The Gambia before returning to its natal colony where it was
found dead last summer). B3AH8 was watched on Wharf Beach in Mauretania's capital city
of Nouakchott – more than 3,700 km from its place of ringing at Chouet Landfill.
It will be very interesting to see where this bird may be reported during the
summer of 2014, so that we can know if this is a locally breeding gull, or one
that was ringed while still on passage through Guernsey in May
2012.
The Migration of LBBG Black 3AH8
LBBGs (incl. B3AH8) at Wharf Beach, Nouakchott, Mauretania (c) Tom van Spanje
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