Superb day at Chouet - with British, German and Spanish Lesser Black-backed Gulls

A change in the weather today to milder southerly winds, accompanied by mist and rain from mid-day brought a few more gulls ashore in Guernsey. Several returning Guernsey colour-ringed Lesser Black-backed Gulls were seen for the first time today - including White 1.T9 - (ringed as an adult female in our garden at Ty Coed on 31/05/09) - which had been seen in Estremadura, Portugal on 17 and 19/08/09 (Roland-Jan Buijs).

Other highlights included three foreign colour ringed Lesser Black-backed Gulls - Black W2XJ from Walney Island, Cumbria, England (David Sowter), Green X:05 from Malaga, Spain (Salva Garcia) and Yellow H.064 from Germany (Sonke Martens).

LBBG White 2.T1 (note tongue sticking through a hole under beak) - Chouet landfill 19 March 10 - PKV

LBBG Black W2XJ Chouet Landfill 19 March 2010 - PKV

LBBG Green X:05 Chouet Landfill Beach - 19 March 2010 - PKV

LBBG Yellow H.064 Chouet Landfill Beach 19 March 2010 - PKV

LBBG White 8.T0 Chouet Landfill 19 March 2010 - PKV

The 1st winter Glaucous Gull also gave good views again in Chouet landfill this morning.

1st winter Glaucous Gull Chouet landfill 19 March 2010

Finally I saw Lesser Black-backed Gull E 4128 - a bird I had originally ringed as a chick on one of the Sark colonies in July 1989 - so this old timer is in its 21st year!