Sanderling at Southsea Castle

I heard back from Pete Potts the other day that the colour-ringed Sanderling I saw at Southsea Castle on 6th December was indeed on of his. It would appear that any bird ringed with a blue flag will have been ringed in the UK and by Farlington Ringing Group, Pete being the lead ringer. This bird was originally ringed on 18th September 2013, at Eastoke, Hayling Island, Hampshire, so this sighting was only about 10km west of its original capture site. It has been sighted 12 time since it capture, with all of the sightings being on Hayling Island, except two, which were mine and a sighting from Ryde Sands on the Isle of Wight on 17th February 2014.

Colour-ringed Sanderling, Southsea Castle, Hampshire

Out of interest I recently saw that a different colour-ringed bird was recorded at Southsea Castle on 29th November 2014. This bird was originally ringed on 3rd October 2011, and has been recorded every winter since on Hayling Island, with occasional visits to other locations including Ryde Sands, on the Isle of Wight and Gilkicker Point, Gosport.

Avocet and Lesser Black-backed Gull Details

I have recently heard back from Graham Giddens with details of the colour ringed Avocet I saw at Titchfield Haven on the 12th September and Paul Veron with details of the Lesser Black-backed Gull that I saw at Davidstow on the 5th October, and so as promised here they are.

Juvenile Avocet, Titchfield Haven NNR - 12th September 2014

The Avocet (green/blue-white/light green) was ringed at Needs Ore Point as a chick on the 14th July 2014. It was first recorded at Titchfield on the 7th September 2014, when it was recorded feeding with other juveniles. Graham informs me that out of 19 chicks colour-ringed, 11 have been sighted away from Needs Ore and all 11 of them have gone to or passed through Titchfield Haven at some point. Graham is gaining some interesting data which suggests that the Haven may be an important post-breeding/moulting site for Avocets.

Adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, Davidstow Airfield, Cornwall - 5th October 2014

The Lesser Black-backed Gull was first ringed at Chouet Landfill, on Guernsey in the Channel Islands on the 21st May 2012. It was aged as an adult (four or more calendar years old) and sexed as a female. On the 15th September 2012 it was recorded at Davidstow Airfield, Cornwall, England. It was recorded in France at Champteusse sur Baconne, Maine et Loire on the 15th November 2012. The next sighting was on the 12th September 2014 at Davidstow Airport again, where I recorded it on the 5th October 2014.

If you ever find a colour-ringed gull you can check out which scheme it is from by checking the European colour ringing site http://www.cr-birding.org and if a bird turns out to be one of Pauls birds you can enter details yourself on his site, which is http://birdrings.digimap.gg/Default.aspx.