Herring Gull T8XP continues its tour of Ireland

I received a couple of emails the other day from 2 different observers, reporting Herring Gull T8XP being sighted in Bray Harbour, Co Wicklow, Ireland on the 26th & 27th May.

Herring Gull T8XP, Bray Harbour, Wicklow, May 2012. Photo by Stephen Lawlor

This Gull had previously been seen in Howth Harbour, Co Dublin, last September so it is great to be able to continue tracking its movements along the Eastern coast of Ireland.

View Herring Gull T8XP in a larger map

It was ringed as a chick at the Point of Ayre Sand Quarry, Isle of Man on 5th July 2011.
Our thanks to Oscar Merne and Stephen Lawlor for reporting their sightings to us.

It's Choughin hot

I met up with Chris & Kay this morning to check on some of the Chough sites that Sean and I hadn't had time to do last week.

We ended the (very hot!) day having visited 5 sites, 4 of which were in use and of those only 2 sites were accessible so we ended the day having only ringed another 5 young.

There are still 4 sites left to do (3 of which were on eggs or tiny young last week) so we should hopefully finish the Chough season with 40 young ringed.

A trip out in the boat

I had a trip out on the boat owned by my brother and his mate today - a fantastic day out in glorious sunny weather and flat calm winds.

During the trip I caught a Guillemot and 2 Kittiwakes which proved to be as much fun as the actual fishing!!

Thanks to Henry Cubbon for the above photos - its a good job someone remembered to bring a camera!!

And to to top the day off, it was back home with a bag full of fresh Mackerel and Herring! Top day!!

LBB Gull X84:M seen in NW Spain

I received an email from top Gull watcher Antonio Gutierrez yesterday, reporting a sighting of X84:M at Pantin beach, Valdovino, A Coruna, Spain. It is one of the Lesser Black-backed Gull chicks we ringed last summer at the Point of Ayre Sand Quarry.

This Gull had already been seen on the south coast of Spain on 19th November 2011 at Malaga Harbour by Salva Garcia so it is fantastic to be able to track its movements in its first year.

View Lesser Black-backed Gull X84:M in a larger map

What made the sighting even more interesting was that it was seen next to a Glaucous Gull, as seen in the photo below. A very late record for Spain!

Thanks to Antonio Gutierrez for the photos and the sighting. His blog can be seen here : http://gaviotasyanillas.blogspot.com/ 

Salva's blog can be seen here: http://www.alborancoast.blogspot.com

A Choughing Great Day

Sean and I spent the bulk of today checking on several of our Chough nest sites. We ended the day having ringed 17 pulli, found 1 nest with 4 eggs still being incubated, 1 nest with 4 very small young just a few days old and 3 nest sites that were empty.














At one of the sites we identified the female Chough that had arrived on the Isle of Man from Anglesey in 2005 and has been breeding at the same site for at least 5 years now.

Lime/Metal ring Left, White/Yellow Right - ringed as a chick in Anglesey in 2004 and arrived IOM in 2005 - all confirmed by its unique colour ring combination.

During the day we also managed to ring a nesting Oystercatcher, 2 Ringed Plover chicks and a quick stop at Silverdale at lunchtime produced 2 Spotted Flycatchers.

Ringed Plover chicks

Spotted Flycatcher

Thanks to Sean for a great day, covering lots of miles by car, on and off-road and on foot! All the above photos are courtesy of Sean too (www.grayimages.co.uk). There's still a good number of Chough sites to check later in the week, hopefully they will have faired well, despite the cold and wet weather we've been having.

Last week

A day out with Sean on the 9th produced a good variety of ringing - starting off at the garden site in the Sulby valley where we caught 34 birds, including 24 Siskin and 2 Lesser Redpoll as well as a control (ringed elsewhere) Lesser Redpoll - ring number L765351. It will be interesting to find out where it was originally ringed.

Male Lesser Redpoll

We then moved on to an area of coastal scrub that is one of the few remaining sites for Yellowhammer on the Island. We had 2 singing males and caught a female coming to the seed that Sean has been putting down to supplement their food. We also caught a Whitethroat here too.

Female Yellowhammer

Male Whitethroat

Finally, we checked on the Gull colony at the Point of Ayre Cemex Quarry. There were good numbers of Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the quarry site, along with 1 pair of Black-headed Gulls and on the Gravel Pits Reserve there were several pairs of Common Gulls & Great Black-backed Gulls too. Thanks to Chris Wade, the Quarry manager, for his ongoing support of our Gull ringing programme here.

Recent recoveries for Calf of Man Bird Observatory

I got a couple of recoveries for the Calf of Man Bird Obs through today. They are shown below. Click on the map markers for further information on the movements/dates etc.

Sedge Warbler

Sedge Warbler ESA Z58060

View Sedge Warbler ESA Z58060 in a larger map

A nice record from Djoudj National Park, Senegal where a long running study of European migrant warblers on their wintering grounds takes place.

Goldfinch L215790

View Goldfinch L215790 in a larger map

Another winter record from the South East of England of 'our' Goldfinch.

Manx RG ringing totals April 2012

The ringing totals for April 2012 can be viewed by clicking on the link below:

Manx RG ringing totals April 2012

Highlights included dazzling the first 2 Shags to be ringed by the Manx RG, a Woodcock caught by Sean in his garden, another Whimbrel, 8 Wheatears, a Twite and a Yellowhammer.
The first passerine pulli were ringed too with a brood of 5 Pied Wagtails.