It would seem that GBBGs are forming the subject of my
recent blogs! While we colour ring less GBBGs than either Herring Gulls or
LBBGs, they are producing some very valuable data for our gull research
projects. Even before we began to colour ring them in 2009, we had been metal
ringing chicks for many years. We are finding that many juvenile and immature
GBBGs wander the western English Channel coasts until they reach near breeding
maturity. They are commonly reported from South-west England and North-west
France. A minority disperse further south in France to Vendee, or even as far
as the Spanish border, but it is unusual to get reports of our GBBGs sighted
east up the English Channel.
This is why it is even more remarkable that of the seven
pairs of GBBGs nesting in Boulogne Harbour, Pas-de-Calais, France two of
the adults were metal ringed as chicks in Guernsey! J0658 was ringed in July
2005 on Burhou, Alderney by Jamie Hooper. It was first recorded in Boulogne on
02 July 2007, and it has now bred in the port several times, raising two chicks
this summer. J0075 was ringed by me in July 2006 on Lihou, Guernsey. It
was first recorded at Boulogne this summer, where it raised a single chick to
fledging. These birds nest on roof tops of industrial buildings in the port
(see photos below).
Our thanks to Jean-Michel Sauvage for reading these metal
rings on several occasions and keeping very good track of both birds. Some of
Jean-Michel’s excellent photos of both gulls (with their fledged chicks) and their nesting sites are shown below:-
GBBGs J0075 and J0658 and their nesting sites at Boulogne, France (c) Jean-Michel Sauvage
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