Black-headed Gull - Yellow 2PAC

On the same day that one of our study birds was recorded in southern England (see here), a bird which had made the journey in the opposite direction was photographed by Neal Warnock at Carnlough, Co. Antrim.

 2PAC  at Carnlough, 3 Dec 2016
Photo by Neal Warnock

 2PAC  was ringed as an adult by the North Thames Gull Group at Pitsea landfill site in Essex on 27th February 2016 and this is the first resighting of it since.

The bird has since been re-sighted by Gary and he managed to get a closer photo.

 2PAC  at Carnlough, 16 Dec 2016
Photo by Gary Platt

I wonder if this is a continental bird which has regularly wintered in Co. Antrim and was trapped on it's return journey east. Hopefully further re-sightings of the bird will tell us.

Many thanks to Neal and Gary for their photos and Paul Roper at NTGG for the information.