Thursday, 1 August 2019

COLOUR-RINGED MEDITERRANEAN GULLS

  All sighted a few days ago on College Rocks by the pier at Aberystwyth:
  White ring marked 39V7: this 11 year old was ringed as a nestling near Antwerp and I noticed it on 14th, 27th and 28th July. (For more details of this familiar gull, see Harry's piece on 14th.)
   
  White 3NF9 was seen by Chris on 26th. It had been ringed when 3 years old at the same Antwerp colony as 39V7 on 18th May this year. The next sighting was by Chris.
  
  Green RV8K was also seen by Chris on 26th. It was ringed as a nestling in July 2017 in the Vendee region of France, close to the Bay of Biscay between La Rochelle and Nantes. By October 2017 it was in the Finistere region of north-west France. In January 2019 it was a little way inland in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques region of south-west France. It then spent part of April on the East Sussex coast near Hastings before Chris saw here it last week.  

  Red ZHL8 was on College Rocks on 28th, one of the very few birds I have seen which was ringed as a nestling in the Czech Republic. Ringed there in May 2018 it was next seen in January 2019 on the coast of northern Spain west of Santander. During May it was in France, inland in the Loire Valley west of Tours. It was next seen in Aberystwyth.