Some Good News....

....a Herring Gull, and a couple of those excellent DC images which keep on bobbing up on Birdsblog.

There's some excellent 'Buzzard' news, the result of the power of people....see what I'm getting excited about HERE

Herring Gull. David Cookson.

It was DC who first told me of the above 'good news', excuse enough for me to plug his photographs once again including my new header, and this brilliant image of two Herring Gulls fighting it out over a decent meal, not just a picture but one with a difference...thanks a lot DC

Whilst doing some birding at Cockersands recently I found a Herring Gull which was ringed, thankfully this bird was reasonably obliging in that it stayed quite close to me for a long time, but not obliging enough to give me the views I needed to get a reading. Some perseverance was required but not until I'd watched this gull for about 15 minutes during which time if it was near enough it was either up to its belly in water, or facing the wrong way for me to get the fix I wanted, but in the end I succeeded and secured the reading as R3RG.

I'm grateful for the help of two contacts who both contributed to my receiving the history of this bird. As you can see it hasn't been sighted all that often in nearly 6 years but you do have to ask yourself what is it that would urge this gull to make the movements it did over these years and for me to find it on Plover Scar at Cockersands eight days ago on Tuesday 22 May. 

Recapture History

  Ring                 Age/   Capture

  numbe       Typ                               Date        Init         Details

Herring Gull

  GA40393        N      1                       01/07/06      FLE     Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserve, Lancashire

                    S      7    Sighted (R)    15/07/08      CLA    Stubber Green, Nr Aldridge, West Midlands (137 km, SSE, 2 yrs

                                                                                 14days)

                    S      9    Sighted         02/01/10      VNT    Moore nature reserve, Warrington (43 km, SSE, 3 yrs 185days)

                    O     10   Sighted (R)    28/11/10      HRT    Glasson Dock, Lancashire (34 km, N, 4 yrs 150days)

                    O     10   Sighted (R)    31/01/11      HRT    Cockersands Abbey, Lancashire (30 km, N, 4 yrs 214days)

Black-tailed Godwit. David Cookson.

Another pic with a difference, this one of the Black-tailed Godwits at loggerheads over who knows what.