Arctic Traveller

In early April this year Lesser Black-backed Gull Black JR42 was seen on Chouet Beach. This gull was on passage back to Norway. What made this sighting extra special was the discovery that it is one of the gulls nesting in the far north of Norway, way up in the Arctic Circle on the Island of Loppa in Finnmark. The life history of this gull showed that it had been ringed as a chick in July 2006, and that it is has spent significant parts of intervening winters in Spain. However, until yesterday the gull had not been recorded back at its natal colony. After passing through Guernsey this spring, Black JR42 did return to Loppa, where gull enthusiasts Morten Helberg and Arild Breistol recorded it yesterday.

LBBG Black JR42 on Chouet Beach, Guernsey - April 2013 (c) PKV

The Movements of Black JR42