2AAR returns!

There has been one bird which I've been hoping to hear about more than any other this winter, 2AAR.

One of seven birds ringed one morning just before Christmas last year, it was subsequently recorded several times at Antrim during January and March.

2AAR at Antrim, January 2013

In early April though, I received word that 2AAR had been spotted in Poland where it was photographed on 5 April in Gdansk, before being recorded at a breeding colony at Hryniewicze a week later!

2AAR in Poland, April 2013
Photo by Artur Blad

Since August, I've been hoping that the bird would be seen back at Lough Neagh this winter, but it wasn't until yesterday, when Gareth Platt sent me through a batch of sightings, that we were able to confirm that 2AAR had returned!



2AAR at Antrim, Oct 2013
Photo by Gareth Platt

This map gives you a rough idea of 2AAR's movements this year, which (according to Google maps) is a trip of 2387km, but that's in a straight-line, so who knows how far it has travelled in reality.

Red - Antrim, NI
Yellow - Gdansk, Poland
Blue - Hryniewicze, Poland

CLICK ON MAP FOR LARGER VERSION

This is a fantastic record and I must say many thanks to Gareth, who in the past month or so has submitted 79 records of Northern Irish colour-ringed gulls.