It’s clear from field observations in Guernsey that the
number of immature LBBGs increases each year as we enter May. While many of
these gulls are locally reared youngsters returning to attend colonies ahead of
their first breeding attempts in their fourth or fifth years, we also know that
immatures from colonies further north are passing through the islands at this
time. For example last week I saw Black P+F at Chouet. This bird was ringed in
July 2012 in Bristol, England by Peter Rock. Amazingly I saw this bird in October of that
year on Quarteira Beach in southern Portugal.
During the cannon netting week last May we caught even more
immature LBBGs than usual and last summer we received sightings of a few of
these gulls on beaches in The Netherlands, indicating that some of these gulls
were from more northerly origins. However two recent reports throw some light on
the probable natal colonies of some of the immature birds ringed last may at
Chouet Landfill. Firstly Black 0AW1 (ringed as a 3rd year bird) was
reported in the colony on Skomer Island, Dyfed, Wales, while Black 6CA3 (ringed
as a 2nd year bird) is currently in the LBBG colony on the Isle of
May, Fife, Scotland.
LBBG Black 3AP2 - a Burhou chick back in the Islands (c) PKV
LBBG Black P+F from Bristol, England (c) PKV
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