140 Gull Ring Reads before Work

Chouet landfill Beach 15 July 2010 - PKV

It was very windy here in Guernsey this morning, and this combined with a high tide meant that a lot of gulls were sheltering on the beaches on the north coast. Before work I managed to read 142 rings - 113 Herring Gulls, 27 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a couple of Great Black-backed Gulls. All were local birds, with a very good showing from the birds ringed during the cannon netting sessions run at the end of May at Chouet Landfill.

News also came in today of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, which had been ringed at Chouet Landfill at the end of May 2010, being seen at Bishop's Cleeve Landfill, Gloucestershire, England (John Sanders) and Burhou, Alderney (Jen Stockdale) - both ringed as very advanced immatures not quite in full adult plumage (and therefore probably not breeding this year). There was also a report  of one of the adults breeding on Burhou from the adjacent coast of France at Heauville, Manche (Eric Robbe).

A very handsome juvenile Herring Gull on Chouet Landfill Beach 15 July 10 - PKV

LBBG Black 1.R1 Chouet Landfill Beach - PKV

Herring Gull 6.JJ1 Chouet Landfill Beach - 15 July 10 - PKV

Herring Gull 6.JJ1 ringed at Ty Coed 03 May 10 - PKV

Two adult Yellow-legged Gulls were seen at Chouet this morning too.

Superb end to Seabird Season on Burhou, Alderney

A very happy PKV with LBBG chick, Burhou - Jen Stockdale

I'm just back from Burhou, Alderney having completed the seabird ringing and monitoring work for another year. For my research projects the last trip is always one of the most important - as Burhou hosts by far the largest colony of Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the Channel Islands (c 1,000 pairs).

Burhou - PKV

LBBG colony - Burhou PKV

LBBG Black 6.V9, Burhou - PKV

LBBG chicks Black 4.V9 and 4.V0, Burhou - Jen Stockdale

This year Chris Mourant and Jen Stockdale (Alderney Wildlife Trust's ecologist) joined me to make up the three person team, licensed to visit the island. The combination of a good breeding season, fine weather and a very hard working team resulted in a record total of 334 Lesser Black-backed Gull chicks being ringed. Of these 259 were large enough to also take a colour ring. There are still several weeks to go before the majority of chicks fledge, but so far it is looking like a very successful year for the gulls.

In addition we ringed 18 Herring Gulls (16 with colour rings). The Atlantic Puffins were still rafting offshore, but I imagine that most will have gone within the next few weeks.

Another superb effort from the team was the successful reading of Gu21 colour ringed Lesser Black-backed Gulls - including another (the third of the season) which had been ringed in winter at Gloucester Landfill.

Finally it was good to see three Mediterranean Gulls on passage through Alderney - two adults and a juvenile bird. As the birds were only seen on the wing we could not check them for colour rings.

My thanks again to Roland Gauvain and Jen Stockdale in Alderney, and to local ringer Chris Mourant - all of whom have played a vital part in the Lesser Black-backed Gull research project this year.

A rarity in Guernsey – a roof nesting Herring Gull

Herring Gull 7.AC6 La Claire Mare, Guernsey - Pat Costen

While many people in the UK, and elsewhere in Europe, have got well used to urban nesting gulls over many years, this habit is still something of a rarity in Guernsey. Perhaps it is the small geographical size of the island (24 square miles) and the close proximity of safe natural nesting sites on steep cliffs and offshore islets, which has kept nesting gulls off our buildings so far.
One of the very few exceptions to this has been a pair of Herring Gulls, which nested for the first time in 2008 on the roof of house of the President of the local natural history society – La Société Guernesiaise. Although absent last year, what is presumed to be this pair is back this year – and it is busy raising a single chick…which has now been colour ringed White 7.AC6.
I’m sorry to report that the birds are not really very grateful tenants, even though Pat and Peter have kindly supplied fresh water to the chick throughout its fledging. The adults are very protective, mobbing the human inhabitants of the house!
Just opposite is another house which has hosted a pair of nesting Herring Gulls in most of the past 10 years. This year they are raising two chicks, although both youngsters have now jumped off the roof and apparently been led away into the adjacent field by the parents.

Great Black-backed Gull siblings go in opposite directions

Recently on this blog I reported that Great Black-backed Gull Yellow 0T1 had been seen at Le Portel Beach, Pas-de-Calais, France. Today on Chouet Beach, Guernsey I saw this bird’s sibling (Yellow 0T3). These gull chicks were ringed in the same nest on Little Burhou, Alderney on 10 July 2009. However, while 0T1 has gone some 300 km east up the English Channel, its brother or sister went at least 225 km in the opposite direction to be seen firstly at Dawlish Warren, Devon, England on 22nd August 2009 (Lee Collins) and then at Porthleven, Cornwall, England on 08 November 2009 (Ray Poulding).

GBBG Yellow 0T1 Little Burhou, Alderney - July 2009 - PKV

GBBG Yellow 0T3 Little Burhou - July 2009 - C Mourant

GBBG Yellow 0T3 Chouet, Guernsey - July 10 - PKV

In recent weeks I have been visiting various seabird colonies around the Bailiwick of Guernsey, so my visits to Chouet landfill and its adjacent beaches have been curtailed. What was very noticeable this morning, on my first visit in several weeks, was the increase again in Great Black-backed Gulls (50+ birds) - including many immature birds.

Seabirds have a successful season in Sark

This weekend Catherine and I went to Sark to continue to assess the seabird breeding season this year. I am pleased to report very high productivity for European Shags and also Herring Gull (in particular). Most shags appeared to breed this year, and the majority appear to have successfully raised three chicks to fledging. The offshore rocks around Sark were crowded with shags (including many youngsters).

European Shag off Sark - PKV

Herring Gull chicks were also numerous, but in view of how far advanced they are we ringed very few (eight). This was expected, because this year we had decided to forgo ringing higher numbers of Herring Gulls and to try instead to colour ring at least a few Lesser Black-backed Gull chicks. This is very difficult to do on Sark, because the sub-colonies tend to be small and scattered, with many being inaccessible.

Derrible Headland - Sark  PKV

Fledged Herring Gull and parent Creux Harbour - PKV

PKV at Creux Harbour, Sark - CMV

LBBG Black 4.P2 and 4.P3 Derrible - PKV

Notwithstanding this, and thanks to Andy Cook, and his boating skills, we did manage to visit three of the tiny sub-colonies and ring 26 Lesser Black-backed Gull chicks (23 colour ringed). Although not a large number, this was quite a satisfactory achievement. I only hope that some of these hard-worked for birds are seen and reported in the months and years ahead.

Sunset over Herm and Jethou (from Sark) - PKV

We did not visit any of the auk colonies, but again things looked very positive for them this year, with good numbers of adults present through the season.

After the very poor seabird breeding season on 2007, the poor one of 2008, and the moderate one of 2009, it is fantastic to see most of the seabirds enjoying very good success this year!

Some more interesting gull movements

A couple of interesting sightings of our gulls recently came from Antonio Gutierrez in northern Spain and Jean Michel Sauvage in France.

Lesser Black-backed Gull Black 0.K0, which had been ringed as a chick on Burhou on 10 July 2009, and which had been seen by Tono Salazar at Lugo, Galicia, Spain on 5th September, has continued to spend its 1st summer in north-west Spain. Antonio saw it at Frouxeira lagoon, A Coruna on 04 July.

LBBG Black 0.K0 - Frouxeira Lagoon, A Coruna, Spain - Antonio Gutierrez

LBBG Black 0.K0 Lugo, Spain - Tono Salazar

LBBG Black 0.K0 Burhou, Alderney - PKV

Meanwhile Great Black-backed Gull Yellow 0T1 – ringed as a chick on Little Burhou, Alderney on 10 July 2009 – was seen by Jean Michel on 02 July 2010 at Portel Beach, Pas-de-Calais, France. This is the first of my immature Great Black-backed Gulls to move east up the English Channel coast beyond Le Havre.

GBBG Yellow 0T1 Little Burhou - PKV

Guernsey Lesser Black-backed Gull seen at Portland Bill, England

LBBG Black 3.C5 at Portland Bill, England - Martin Cade

Martin Cade, the warden of the Portland Bill Bird Observatory, England sent me an interesting sighting today at the Bill of Lesser Black-backed Gull Black 3.C5, which was ringed at Chouet landfill, Guernsey on 28/05/10 (as part of the cannon netting operation run with Paul Roper and members of the North Thames Gull Group). It is believed that this is a Guernsey-nesting LBBG, and 120 km seems a bit far for a feeding trip for a bird which by now should be feeding chicks...so I'm not sure what the bird is doing at Portland. Perhaps it is a failed breeder this year? It will be interesting to see if it turns up back in Guernsey, before migrating for the autumn/winter.

Nearly ringed the Gannets!

After around 30 years of landing on Alderney's two gannetries once a year, I finally met my nemesis today. Everything looked perfect as we left Guernsey - with a beautiful, calm sea:-

Herm and Jethou - PKV

As we approached Alderney, some 20 miles further north, the big swells on the sea should have warned us that we would struggle - but it wasn't until we arrived at Les Etacs that we saw just how bad the swell on the rock was:-

                 Swell on Les Etacs - PKV

All we could do was go fishing and wait for the tide (and hopefully sea) to drop.

Ian hopeful of catching supper (he didn't!) - PKV

Eventually the swell dropped enough to enable two ringers to be landed on one of the small sheltered stacks - where they ringed 150 Northern Gannet chicks.

Three men in a boat- PKV

The rest of the team could only look on and hope the swell dropped further (which it didn't!). It was very enjoyable however to watch the adult gannets coming and going and to take a few photos of the rocks.

Although a frustrating day it was still wonderful to be in close proximity to these most magnificent seabirds - and next year...we'll try again! I hope to be able to post some photos from one of the two ringers who landed shortly.

A few more Great Black-backed Gull chicks colour ringed

Longue Pierre - PKV

Thanks again to Dave Perrio for getting me out to The Humps for the final seabird monitoring trip of the season to these small islet nature reserves with restricted landing during the seabird breeding season. The primary objective of this trip was to assess the breeding season for gulls - especially Great Black-backed Gulls.

Strangely I could not find a single Great Black-backed Gull chick on Godin. There must have been some chicks given the 20+ adults calling overhead during my brief 25 minute landing. However, despite a pretty reasonable search of the dense mallow vegetation I couldn't locate any. Nearly all of the Great Cormorant youngsters had now fledged, although a few late youngsters were still in their nests. To minimise disturbance I did not go to that end of the islet.

My next landing was on Longue Pierre, where Common Guillemot numbers looked very strong. Again I kept my focus on the gulls and managed to locate eight Great Black-backed Gull chicks of a good size.

On the way back Dave also landed me on Plat Hommet just off Herm's north-west corner. This was the first time I'd been on this islet - which is not at all easy to get on. Three more Great Black-backed Gull chicks were ringed here, before we headed for home.

News of Lesser Black-backed Gulls from England and Spain

LBBG White 2.BB2 Ty Coed, Guernsey 25 May 2009 - Catherine Veron

LBBG White 2.BB2 Gloucester landfill, England 24 June 09 - John Sanders

News in today included reports of two Lesser Black-backed Gulls from my study. Peter Rock reported White 2.BB2 from Shortwood Landfill, Bristol, England. This is an interesting bird, which was ringed as a 2nd calendar year in our garden on Guernsey on 25 May 2009. It was then seen twice in June 2009 at Gloucester Landfill, England (John Sanders) - before being seen at Tan Tan Plage, Morocco on 18 November 2009 (Morten Helberg and Finn Jorgensen)

Black 0.V0  ringed as a chick on Burhou, Alderney on 10 July 2009 was seen on 24 June 2010 on Esmelle Beach, A Coruna, Spain by Paco Veiga.

Herring Gulls enjoying a good breeding season on Jethou

Two Herring Gull chicks on Jethou - PKV

On one of the most beautiful days of summer, three of the Guernsey Seabird Team (Sophie and Paul Veron and Mish Hooper) were lucky enough to visit the private island of Jethou to monitor the gulls and colour ring chicks. After a quick visit to adjacent Crevichon, where a few more Great Black-backed Gull chicks were ringed, the Team worked hard on the beaches around the main island. It was soon obvious that despite a few days with heavy rain around the time when many pairs would have had newly hatched young, most breeding attempts had had some success. While there were some dead small chicks, there was a good number of large well-grown young scattered around the island. If anything the season looked to be a week or so advanced on most seasons, so our slightly earlier visit than usual was fortuitous.

Crevichon - PKV

We worked hard in the clear blue skies to ring 68 Herring Gulls, 11 Great Black-backed Gulls and a single Lesser Black-backed Gull. Hopefully the majority of these birds will fledge soon and give interesting sighting reports for many years to come.

Gull Beach at High Tide Jethou - PKV

There were several late Shag chicks, but with the gull work the main focus for this visit, the Team only ringed seven of them.

Herring Gull chicks - Jethou - PKV

Sophie and Mish ringing gull chick - Jethou - PKV

Sophie with Herring Gull chick 6.AH2 - PKV

A Marsh Harrier seen hunting over the top of the island was an interesting record. All in all a  very valuable trip.

Interesting movement of Lesser Black-backed Gull north-east to Suffolk, England

Larus fuscus Black 0.K1 Burhou 10 July 2009 - Catherine Veron

A couple of days ago Jon Gibbs saw Lesser Black-backed Gull Black 0.K1 at Minsmere, Suffolk. This is a really exciting record for it is the first of my chicks ringed in July 2009 (on Burhou, Alderney) to be seen further north than the Channel Islands. Jon says that there has been a roost of over a thousand immature Lesser Black-backed Gulls at Minsmere for the past month or so, and the Alderney bird is the most southerly born gull to be recorded in the flock.

Guernsey ringed Herring Gull nesting in Jersey

Photo - Mick Dryden

I had some interesting news today from Mick Dryden who saw and photographed Herring Gull White 4.SS2 in a nesting colony on the cliffs at Grosnez, Jersey. This gull had been ringed as an adult female at Chouet landfill on 05 June 2009. I had seen this bird six times in Guernsey from 12 November 2009 to 24 March 2010.

Early morning ring reading at Chouet

Due to work commitments and the hectic seabird monitoring schedule at this time of year, this morning was only the second time that I have managed to get to Chouet to record colour ringed gulls since our cannon netting session there in the last week of May. The impact of our successful cathing is obvious. In 90 minutes this morning at Chouet landfill and Chouet landfill Beach I recorded 123 colour rings - including a record breaking 52 Lesser Black-backed Gulls - all Guernsey ringed birds!

It is really good to see that I am beginning now to make an impact on the number of cr Herrng Gulls in the area, and also slowly I am making progess with the Lesser Black-backed Gulls. I hope to record as many of the Lesser Black-backed Gulls caught at the end of May as possible before they start their autumn migration in early August.