Gulls on the High Tide

It was always going to be a difficult pre-work session down the west coast this morning, because of the high tide, pushing the gulls off the beach. However, it was just about workable, and a nice flock of c. 400 LBBGs (few juveniles) was well observed. In this flock were 40+ of our colour ringed birds, along with Orange 9V – the Dutch bird from Moerdijk which appears each autumn on the Island’s west coast. There were very few GBBGs in the flock (c 20), but amongst them were two French birds (one from Chausey – Green K.72 and one from Le Havre – Blue 91D), and two Guernsey birds – Yellow 0.NN1 and Yellow 0L8.

Yet another adult Yellow-legged Gull was located in this flock!

The Guernsey Pelagic

Today a dozen birders went out with Richard Keen on a pelagic seabird trip 10 miles or so NW of Guernsey. It was a very enjoyable day, although both highlights were of the non-avian variety. Firstly a very obliging Sunfish drifting lazily past the boat (with attendant gulls pecking parasites from its skin), and then a small pod of 6-10 Common Dolphins, which came bow-riding albeit briefly, before speeding on their journey.

Birding highlights included 20+ Great Skuas, an Arctic Skua and a possible Pomarine Skua (well that's what Chris Mourant and me thought anyway!), as well as 10+ Sooty Shearwaters and a couple of Balearic Shearwaters and c 30 European Storm-Petrels, as well as an Arctic Tern. I was also pleased to see gulls out in their pelagic environment!

Sunfish (with attendant gulls)

Herring Gulls in Profusion!

With high tide at dawn there was very little beach for the gulls to rest on, so after a quick trip down the west coast, I spent an an hour and a half at Chouet Landfill. In that time I recorded c 150 of my cr gulls - all Herring Gulls, except one Lesser Black-backed Gull (from only 15-20 birds seen) and a couple of Great Black-backed Gulls. There was one very obliging adult Yellow-legged Gull giving very close views.

 Yellow-legged Gull

First Juvenile GBBGs from Le Havre, Seine-Maritime and Portland, Dorset

Despite the blustery conditions this morning, combined with high tide, I was fortunate enough to be able to check c 600 LBBGs along the west coast, locating 36 of my colour-ringed birds. Amongst a very much smaller number of GBBGs (c 100) were my first juveniles of the autumn from Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (Black 92K) and also my first ever GBBG from the new project established in Portland Harbour this summer (White P:37A). Finally, after much searching (and tipped off yesterday by Jamie Hooper – cheers!) I finally managed to see Black-headed Gull Yellow EHSL ringed as a chick near Antwerp, Belgium this summer. So all in all – a very rewarding gull session today! It was interesting to see at least two parties of LBBG fledglings still begging from their very frustrated parents on the beaches this morning.

 Black-headed Gull Yellow EHSL

 LBBG Black 0.F6 L'Eree

 L'Eree Gull Flock

LBBG Fledglings Still Begging from Adult L'Eree

Norwegian and English LBBGs, French GBBGs and a Belgian Black-headed Gull - plus our first Cormorant Sighting outside the Island!

A couple of smallish gull flocks along the west coast this morning contained a Norwegian-ringed LBBG (Black J2842) and an English-ringed (Red DB.DS) LBBG: both on L'Eree, along with three well-known French-ringed Great Black-backed Gulls (Blue 30C, Blue 91D and Green K.51). Later in the morning Jamie Hooper saw Black-headed Gull Yellow EHSL, a juvenile bird ringed near Antwerp, Belgium this summer and originally seen in Guernsey at the end of August by Julian Medland.

Also today, we received our first sighting outside the island of one of our colour-ringed Great Cormorants (Black BA) (a project started only this year with 40 chicks being ringed). The bird was seen on the Loire River at Anetz, Loire-Atlantique, France by Pascal Bellion.

 LBBG Black J2842 from Vest-Agder, Norway

 LBBG Red DB.DS from Suffolk, England

 GBBG Blue 30C from Seine-Maritime, France

 GBBG Blue 91D from Seine-Maritime, France

 Great Cormorant Black BA 

Lithuanian Black-headed Gull returns to Alderney!

Last weekend I was in Alderney for a wedding so naturally I took the opportunity to check out the beaches of the northernmost Channel Island to search for colour ringed gulls. One of the first cr birds seen on Crabby Beach on 08 September was Black-headed Gull Black P547, a bird ringed as an adult at Dumpiai dump, Klaipėda, Lietuva, Lithuania in April 2010. I first saw this bird on the same beach in Alderney in August 2010. It is amazing to think that between my observations this gull has made two return trips to its breeding colony in Lithuania!

Amongst c 150 full-grown Lesser Black-backed Gulls seen on Crabby over the two days were 15 of my colour-ringed birds from Burhou, Alderney, including several birds that had been ringed as chicks in the summers of 2009 and 2010. One of the adult gulls was subsequently seen the very next day at Dawlish Warren, Devon (137 km distant in a straight line) by Lee Collins! There were also three of the 2012 Burhou chicks on the beaches, one of which was still begging enthusiastically from its parent! Finally three cr Great Black-backed Gulls were recorded, one of the 2012 chicks (which sadly looked rather ill with botulism), a 2012 chick from Chausey (Green L73) which I have already recorded in Guernsey, and a chick ringed on Looe Island, Cornwall, England (White L:AJ8) another immature bird which I’ve seen several times previously in Guernsey.

I made a quick trip down the west coast of Guernsey this morning before work to catch up with latest events. The Lesser Black-backed Gulls (c 500) were roosting on Perelle Beach, which is not the easiest for recording because many have their legs hidden in seaweed on the rocks. Notwithstanding this I recorded 18 of my cr LBBGs, along with ten GBBGs (five of which were of French origin – three from Le Havre, Seine-Maritime – Gilles Le Guillou) and two from Chausey Islands, Manche (Seb Provost and Fabrice Gallien).

 Sunrise over Herm 08 September 2012

 Black-headed Gull Black P547 Crabby, Alderney 08 September 2012

 LBBG Black 6AS2 Crabby, Alderney 09 September 2012

 Gulls Resting on Crabby Beach, Alderney 09 September 2012

Gulls resting on Perelle Beach, Guernsey 10 September 2012

LBBG from England, GBBG from France and ? from ?!

This morning’s run down the west coast before work looked like it was going to draw a complete blank...until I reached L’Eree...where the best Lesser Black-backed Gull flock of the autumn was gathered on the beach. There were c 500 birds, of which at least 100 were juveniles. 36 birds in the flock were colour-ringed- all “Guernsey Gulls” except Red DNDB (a chick ringed at Havergate Island, Suffolk, England in July 2012 – Mike Marsh). It is noticeable how some birds breeding on Burhou, Alderney stopover in Guernsey on their way south. As well as adults there were three immature LBBGs ringed as chicks on Burhou in 2009 and three chicks from 2010 on the beach this morning. These birds have presumably been at their natal colony for part of the summer, and are now moving south again with the adults. As in previous autumns hardly any Lesser Black-backed Gulls in these autumn flocks seem to visit Chouet Landfill. A visit there a couple of days ago resulted in only three LBBG colour ring sightings!

Also in the flock was a juvenile gull - Green XCDP - a bird I assumed to be another fuscus...but you know how I have been saying all summer that I can't recognise a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull...perhaps this is it?! Hopefully the ring will confirm (thanks to Kees for perhaps putting me on the right track!).

Amongst the handful of Great Black-backed Gulls on the beach, was another juvenile bird ringed on Chausey Islands, Manche, France – Green L24 (Fabrice Gallien). Finally of note was a single 2^nd cy Common Gull.