Look who's back!

Although we have had (almost) 1500 re-sightings of NI colour-ringed gulls since November 2012, only three records have come from outside of Northern Ireland.

Two of these were 2AAR, the bird which was recorded at Gdansk in Poland in early April 2013, before being photographed at a breeding colony in eastern Poland in mid-April. The third record was of 2AAJ, who was photographed by Gary Woodburn in Seahouses, Northumberland in February this year.

2AAJ at Seahouses, Feb 2014
Photo by Gary Woodburn

2AAJ was originally ringed in December 2012 and was recorded at Antrim throughout winter 2012-13. It was only seen once all of last winter when Gareth Platt saw it on 15 December, before turning up in Seahouses in late-February.

Gareth got in touch on Sunday to let me know that 2AAJ was back at Antrim, almost exactly a year since it was last recorded in NI.

2AAJ at Antrim, Dec 2014
Photo by Gareth Platt

It will be interesting to see if there are any more sightings of the bird this winter, or will this be the only record we get.

As always, many thanks to Gareth for this reports and photographs.