Colour Ring Reading Lesser Black-backed Gulls on Burhou, Alderney

On my recent gull research trip to Burhou, Alderney I was thrilled to find no fewer than 130 of my Lesser Black-backed Gulls which had original ringing details as follows:-

1992 (one), 2003 (two), 2005 (one), 2008 (one from Burhou and one from Guernsey), 2009 (43 adults plus three of the chicks ringed in 2009 which are now back prospecting Burhou for future breeding, plus three from Guernsey), 2010 (28) and 2011 (37 plus seven from Guernsey).
Just over 30 of these birds had been reported outside the Channel Islands last autumn/winter (mostly in Iberia, but some in France and England). I also recorded Black 3.N6, which is the adult Lesser Black-backed Gull ringed in June 2010 which I saw at Anza, Agadir, Morocco in December 2010! Amongst the colony again this year were the three birds seen in 2010 which had been colour ringed at Gloucester landfill, England in 2004, 2007 and 2008 respectively.

LBBG Colony Burhou - 14 July 2011 - PKV 

LBBG Black 4.A0 when ringed on Burhou 13 June 2010 - PKV 

Black 4.A0 on 16/08/10 at Frouxeira lagoon, A Coruna, Spain - Antonio Gutierrez 

LBBG Black 3.N6 when ringed on Burhou on 12 June 2010 - PKV



In addition I recorded seven of my cr Herring Gulls (all ringed originally on Guernsey) and one Great Black-backed Gull – seen only 100 metres from where it was raised on Little Burhou in the summer of 2009!