LBBG Black 9AA8 - A Postscript!

An hour at Chouet this morning was fascinating by the noticeable change in behaviour of the gulls. There are far fewer gulls lingering on the beaches after feeding in the landfill. No doubt the majority hurry back to their nesting duties once fed and watered! It was very nice to see LBBG Black 9AA8 resting on the beach, clearly no worse for wear, following its recent rehabilitation (see previous blog entry!).

The other notable sighting was LBBG Black 1.K9, a chick ringed on Burhou in July 2009 and seen in October of that year in A Coruna, NW Spain...but then not again until today!

 LBBG Black 1.K9 back at Chouet, Guernsey

LBBG Black 1.K9 Oct 2009 A Coruna, Spain - (c) Juan Cabeza

The wonderful work of the GSPCA – A Good News Story!

Steve Byrne, the Manager of the Guernsey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA), recently informed me of the fate of Lesser Black-backed Gull Black 9AA8, which was reported in the vicinity of Chouet landfill covered in heavy pink adhesive gunk on 20 April 2012.  Shelter staff picked up the gull, and bird rehabilitation specialist Yvonne Chauvel set to work with others to painstakingly clean the gull’s feathers with a flea comb! After many hours dedicated work, and almost a week of recuperation I am delighted to be able to report (and show in a photo below) that this colour ringed gull (which the GSPCA staff have christened “Lady Ga-Ga”) was able to be released. More information on the story is available on the GSPCA’S web site link

http://www.gspca.org.gg/blog/lesser-black-backed-gull-lady-ga-ga-saved-and-released-read-her-tale

As ever my sincere thanks to the hard-working staff at the GSPCA who do so much to help rehabilitate sick and injured birds so that they can be returned to the wild. I hope LBBG Black 9AA8 is now back in its breeding rhythm. Wouldn’t it be great for this bird to rear chicks this year, after its lucky escape?!

 LBBG Black 9AA8 cleaned and ready to go

 What a great moment - worth all the hard work of rehabilitation!

All photos (c) GSPCA

More Immature LBBGs Back in Guernsey

After several days with no gulling, I really enjoyed a 90 minute watch at Chouet early this morning. Although there were good numbers of immature LBBGs present on the beach, only one of my immature cr birds was seen - Black 1.K8,ringed in July 2009 as a chick on Burhou, Alderney. This bird is known to have spent at least two of the intervening winters in Madrid, Spain, where it was last seen on 31 January 2012. Amongst other gulls seen today were Herring Gull Pale Blue B493 ringed in Seine-Maritime, France, and three French-ringed Great Black-backed Gulls (Black 66J from Le Havre and Green H.03 and Green J.60 from Chausey Islands). Herring Gull White 2.AP6 (Ex 7M6), which (unusually) winters in Northern Spain, was also photographed on the beach today.

 LBBG Black 1.K8 

The ashen beauty of a 1st summer LBBG!

Belgian and Portuguese-ringed LBBGs at Chouet

After a very busy week at work and home, with very little gulling, it was wonderful to spend a couple of hours on Saturday morning at Chouet Landfill. Although the weather was a bit dull, with showers and a stiff breeze, I was able to enjoy wonderful views of the gulls as they fed at the tipping face. It was very noticeable that there has been another increase in immature LBBGs present - mostly 2nd and 3rd summer birds, but also the occasional 1st summer bird. Amongst these birds were a couple of my chicks ringed on Burhou in 2009 and 2010. A Belgian-ringed bird was also present - Blue N.CAG. I was also very pleased to finally be able to read a Portuguese metal ring on an adult LBBG Lisboa M011613. I had seen this bird several times in the past few weeks, but hadn't been able to secure all the digits on the code.

I was also intrigued to se Yellow-legged Gull White 1CA9 feeding - supporting the view that this adult bird is at least summering n the islands (as in 2011)...if not breeding in a mixed pair with Herring Gull!

Also at this time of the year I really enjoy watching the LBBGs pairing and displaying - all in all a really wonderful session at Chouet!