Apologies for Delay in Replying!

I am sorry for the delay in replying to e-mails with sightings of Guernsey Gulls. I have been in the UK since Saturday 12 November with no access to Internet until today...and I cannot yet respond to e-mails.

I hope to get back to Guernsey over the coming weekend, and will then start to address the backlog of sightings. In the meantime please keep sending your records in. Thank you for your patience!

Many thanks and best wishes

Paul

An Interesting Few Days for GBBGs

Early morning visits along the Island’s west coast are still being productive, although the number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls has, as expected, declined to less than 20 birds/day. Interestingly I can usually still find one or two of my cr birds – Black 9C2 is a regular and yesterday he was joined by Black 1.Z3 – so perhaps they are going to remain through the winter?!

Also of interest this week has been the Great Black-backed Gull flock at Perelle and Vazon Beaches , with 33 cr observations having been made on three dates involving 26 different birds as follows:-

Norway (one), Seine-Maritime, France (eight), Chausey Islands, France (six), Cornwall, England (three), south coast , England (one) and Guernsey Bailiwick (seven).

News from Morocco

Recently I received news from Morten Helberg in Norway of some gull sightings from a couple of trips to Morocco by Norwegian gull enthusiasts earlier this year. This report included seven sightings involving five Lesser Black-backed Gulls ringed in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Three of these gulls were seen in April at the gull hotspot of Anza Beach, near Agadir, and while I had seen Black 0.L8 at this very site the previous December, the other two birds (Black 6.J0 and Black 6.K2 - both chicks from Alderney in 2010) were both 1st sightings since ringing. A Burhou chick which was only metal ringed (because it was too small to take a colour ring) in July 2009 was seen several hundred km to the north at Oualidia Rubbish Dump, Morocco.

However…pride of place went to LBBG White 6S9, which was only the 2nd LBBG to be ringed in the Guernsey project – in our garden at Ty Coed, Vale Marais, Guernsey on 26 May 2008. This gull, which had been recorded in the autumns of 2008 and 2009 at Quarteira, Algarve, Portugal, was seen on 13 February 2011 at Dakhla South in Western Sahara – some 3,108 km from its ringing place making it by far the most southerly report to date of a Guernsey-ringed LBBG! To add to this excitement I recorded this gull back in Guernsey on 21 April 2011, and then several times over the summer on Burhou, Alderney where it probably breeds.

LBBG White 6S9 May 2008 

LBBG White 6S9 Chouet, Guernsey 21 April 2011



Fantastic Weekend in Malaga, Spain

I returned this weekend from a fabulous weekend in Malaga, Spain in the very enjoyable company of fellow gull enthusiasts Salva Garcia and Gabriel Martín. Salva regularly watches the gull hotspot of Malaga Port, while Gabi who usually keeps a close watch on the gulls at Alcazar de San Juan Landfill, Cuidad Real had travelled down from Madrid for the weekend. We managed to secure permission to access Malaga Landfill and the port (where the gulls loaf), as well as visiting Benajarafe Beach to the east. On the Monday I was also able to take a look at La Carihuela Beach, Torremolinos and Caleta de Vélez Fishing Port – seeing a few more cr gulls in each location. It was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend, and with more than 120 gull colour ring sightings it was a record breaking couple of days for Malaga! Of course I was particularly thrilled to see no fewer than nine different “Guernsey-ringed” Lesser Black-backed Gulls over the weekend.

My sincere thanks to Salva and Gabi for their marvellous hospitality, and extremely good company!

Malaga Port

LBBGs at Malaga Port 

Malaga Port 

LBBG Black 3.K7 (Sark) 

LBBG Black 1.N7 (Burhou, Alderney) 

LBBG Black 3.K7 (Sark) 

LBBG Black 7X8 (Guernsey) 

LBBG Blue BL (The Netherlands)  

LBBG Black JL1V (Norway) 

LBBG Green K.ACM (The Netherlands) 

LBBG Blue YA95 (Iceland) 

LBBG Red NY (The Netherlands) 

Mottled LBBG 

Malaga Port

Malaga Landfill

PKV & Gabriel Martín Malaga Landfill 

PKV & Salva Garcia Malaga Landfill 

Caleta de Velez Fishing Port  

Benajarafe Beach 

Gulls at Torre del Mar Beach



Calmer Weather = Fewer Gulls

Although there was still quite a breeze yesterday morning, and a heavy rain shower, the weather was less stormy than on Tuesday. My early morning trip down the west coast resulted in totals of 200 GBBGs, 150 LBBGs and an adult Yellow-legged Gull. 12 cr GBBGs were recorded (nine French – seven Chausey Islands and two Le Havre, two Cornish and one local bird).
10 of the LBBGs were colour ringed – of which the most exciting was Black 0.K0 a chick ringed on Burhou, Alderney in July 2009, and seen a dozen times in NW Spain from 05/09/09 to 27/08/11. This is another example of a 2nd summer gull moving north in the autumn! We are now more than half way through October…but I remain confident that my west coast LBBG flock is going to whittle away soon…and I will have nearly two months of winter without a sighting of any of my colour ringed LBBGs – but we will see!
The weather was calm this morning...and as a result I could only find 80 LBBGs (seven cr - all local) and 50 GBBGs (three cr - all French birds from Chausey Islands).

GBBG Green E.71 (from Chausey Islands, France) - PKV



I Love a Good Storm!

Last night I was lying in bed listening to the strong wind and steady rain thinking that this bad weather may well drive good numbers of Great Black-backed Gulls to Guernsey’s west coast…so it was with a great deal of anticipation that I drove down the coast this morning. As expected there were 250+ GBBGs in small flocks on Vazon, Perelle and L’Eree beaches – and amongst these birds were no fewer than 22 colour-ringed birds – 11 from France (seven Chausey Islands, Manche and four Le Havre, Seine-Maritime), two from Cornwall, England and nine of my local birds.

Amongst 240 LBBGs were Peter Rock’s Green G:H from Bristol, England (which was at Slapton Sands, Devon only two days earlier), and eight of my locally cr birds – including Black 0.Z1 which had been ringed as a chick on Burhou, Alderney in July 2009.

Another highlight was a superbly marked adult Yellow-legged Gull on Perelle Beach and later Vazon Beach.

A very quick trip to the coast at lunchtime revealed 500+ GBBGs - but the vast majority were sitting down in the rocks some distance from the coastline. I only managed to read another two Chausey birds, but a 1st winter LBBG Black 4.P8 (Burhou, Alderney 2010) was another superb find!

Gulls on Perelle 

Gulls on Vazon 

GBBG Black 66G 

GBBG Yellow 0.XX9 

GBBG Yellow 0.XX9 when ringed 

GBBG White L:AU5 

GBBG White L:AJ8 

Yellow-legged Gull (adult) Vazon



The LBBG flock reduces further!

The weather was once again beautiful...very calm and sunny...so I did not expect to see many Great Black-backed Gulls along the west coast - and so it proved! The LBBG flock has also now dwindled to around 70-80 birds - with just two of my cr birds seen today - Black 8AC2 and Black 1AA1. There were some metal ringed LBBGs - three Channel Islands birds and one British (but I couldn't read the whole code). Interestingly I have a report that several of the LBBGs from Guernsey's late autumn flock were seen together at Slapton Sands, Devon, England on 15 October - two days after I last saw them here in Guernsey. I still believe that most (if not all) of these birds will winter further south. It will be interesting to see if I record any of them back in Guernsey before next year's breeding season commences.

There were two adult Mediterranean Gulls at Portelet Beach this morning.

With the weather so superb, Catherine and I took a trip out around Herm with my brother. It was a lovely trip, where we recorded at least six Atlantic Grey Seals.

Mediterranean Gulls on Portelet Beach - PKV 

Atlantic Grey Seal - Herm - PKV

Herm 16 October 2011 - PKV



Norwegian Lesser Black-backed Gull in Guernsey

A very quick trip down the Island's west coast at lunch-time was very productive. Many of the 350+ LBBGs were too distant on the low tide to be able to see their legs well, but fortunately one of only a handful of birds at closer range at Vazon was a Norwegian LBBG - Blue J3ZH. Ringed as a chick in Vest-Agder in 2007, this bird was recorded by Antonio Gutierrez on passage at Pantin Beach, A Coruna, Spain on 12/10/2010. In the meantime it was recorded back in Norway. Also still present today were LBBG Blue DHC (from Gloucester, England) and Green G:H (from Bath, England).

LBBG Blue J3ZH Vazon - PKV



Ten Foreign Colour Ringed Gulls Today!

Given the very strong winds and high tide around dawn today, I was not surprised to find c 250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and c 200 Great Black-backed Gulls on the island's west coast beaches. There were still 15 of my locally cr LBBGs, along with Blue DHC from Gloucester, England. The 17 cr GBBGs today may well be a day record for me. Amongst these gulls were one from Mandal, Norway, eight from France (six from Le Havre, Seine-Maritime and two from Chausey Islands), one from Cornwall, England, one from Jersey and six of my locally cr birds from Guernsey).

Gulls on Vazon Beach 09 October 2011 - PKV 

GBBG Black JP282 Vazon (from Mandal, Norway) - PKV 

GBBG Black JLF Vazon (from Jersey) - PKV 

GBBG Green E.46 Portelet Beach - PKV 

GBBG White L:AJ8 Portelet Beach - PKV





Nine Foreign Colour-Ringed Gulls in Guernsey Today

The post-dawn run along the west coast was very productive today, with c 250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls primarily on L'Eree and Portelet Beaches. This number included 17 locally colour ringed birds, as well as two British ringed birds - Blue DHC (Gloucester landfill) which was first seen in Guernsey on 4th October, and Green G:H (a bird from Peter Rock's study based in SW England). This bird was ringed as a chick in 2005 in Bristol, and it was seen in Guernsey last autumn on 19 and 20 October.

Seven foreign colour-ringed Great Black-backed Gulls were seen - six from France ( four from Chausey Islands, Manche and two from Le Havre, Seine-Maritime) and one from Cornwall, England.

LBBG Green G:H L'Eree - PKV 

LBBG Blue DHC L'Eree Beach - PKV 

GBBG Black 53G Portelet Beach, PKV 

GBBG Green K.72 L'Eree Beach PKV