Wonderful weekend at Chouet

This is just about peak spring arrival time for LBBGs in Guernsey, and it showed at Chouet this weekend. A couple of hours in the landfill produced stunning views of the gulls at very close range - and with c60 colour ring reads taken on each of two days there was plenty of action to enjoy. Many of the birds are freshly arrived back from wintering grounds in Iberia or northern France. The Iceland Gull was apparently seen again on Friday morning. At least five French ringed Great Black-backed Gulls were also present at the landfill.

First Guernsey Great Black-backed Gull Reported from Spain!

My thanks to Antonio Gutierrez and Ricardo Rodriguez for some superb detective work in working out the code on a colour ringed GBBG in Spain. Very careful examination of photos confirmed the bird seen just over the French border at Plaiaundi, Irún, Gipuzkoa, Spain on Saturday 03 March 2012. Yellow 0.FF8 is the very first GBBG ringed in the Channel Islands to be reported from Spain. Until this record the furthest SW of any of our birds had been reported was Vendée, France. Yellow 0.FF8 was ringed as a chick on 22 June 2010 on Crevichon, Jethou. It was seen three times in Guernsey in August 2010, but then not again until its sighting in Spain.

 GBBG Yellow 0.FF8 Gipuzkoa, Spain 03 March 2010

Crevichon, Jethou

A Wonderful Saturday morning at Chouet

In a fabulous couple of hours at Chouet on Saturday I recorded 80 of my returning colour ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull, as well as one of Roland-Jan Buij's birds ringed in The Netherlands. Of course many of the 80 birds had been seen in Iberia over the winter, but Black 3AC0 was last seen by Antonio Gutierrez at Carino Beach, A Coruna, NW Spain only six days earlier!

Incredibly two of the nine cr Great Black-backed Gulls were birds colour ringed in Vest-Agder, southern Norway! Amongst all this activity it was hard to do justice to my Herring Gulls, but I did add another 62 sightings to my database.  All in all a really exciting couple of hours at Chouet!

 LBBG Black 3AC0 back in six days or less from NW Spain!

 

 LBBG Red TV from The Netherlands

GBBG Black JH350 from southern Norway

27 cr LBBGs at Chouet this morning

A steady return migration is now in full swing for our breeding LBBGs. Today, in an hour before work, I recorded 27 of my cr birds - including several that have been reported over the autumn/winter in England, France, Portugal and Spain.

 Gulls at Chouet landfill Beach

LBBG Black 8F7

30 cr LBBGs before work!

The LBBG arrivals are continuing, as expected. An hour at Chouet this morning gave 30 colour ringed LBBGs - the majority recorded for the first time this spring!

 

 

 

 

 

The Flood Gates are Opening

An hour at Chouet this morning gave plenty of evidence of the continuing arrival back in the islands of Lesser Black-backed Gulls which have been absent all winter. The tide was not ideal, but I managed to record 17 of my colour ringed LBBGs, along with c 50 colour ringed Herring Gulls. I would expect the strong arrivals of LBBGs to continue now for several weeks.  

Chouet Landfill in the Mist!

Making the short drive to Chouet Landfill early on Saturday, I thought a lazy start to the day with a cup of tea in bed may have been the wiser option...as the mist was so thick it was difficult to see more than a few metres ahead. However...what a good move it turned out to be! Once inside the landfill I was able to get close enough to the hoards of gulls to make ring reading very easy. Today was the first day when Lesser Black-backed Gulls were common at the landfill, with c 150 birds in the first two hours - including 21 of my cr birds - many recorded for the first time after wintering in Iberia! It is always such a thrill to welcome the birds home for another season! In addition I recorded c 100 of my locally colour ringed Herring Gulls. The 1st winter Iceland Gull had been present on Friday, but there was no sign of it today. One Yellow-legged Gull was the only scarce gull present at the landfill.