Hat-trick of colour-ringed gulls

Suzanne Belshaw got in touch recently with a couple of reports of colour-ringed Herring Gulls and a Black-headed Gull.

The first bird, which was at Ballyholme, Belfast Lough had originally been ringed as a first-winter bird at Peel in the Isle of Man in 2012 (see orange on map below) and this is the first report of it since.

Orange - movement of IoM bird
Yellow - movement of Copeland birds

The second report was of one of our Copeland birds. It hadn't moved quite as far, but as it is only the third report of the birds colour-ringed on Big Copeland, we were delighted to receive it! It had been ringed as an adult in June this year.

Photo by Suzanne Belshaw

The final bird was also a first re-sighting. A Black-headed Gull, which was recorded at the same time as the Herring Gull at Donaghadee, had also been ringed on the Copeland Islands, on Old Lighthouse Island, as a chick in 2014.

Photo by Suzanne Belshaw

Many thanks to Suzanne for passing on the information and photos.