November - CR Gulls - A First East German Black Darvic!

November 30th

Plenty of Gulls in the Parks and the weather has started to turn cold.  Eight Degrees at lunch time.  A metal ringed Black-headed Gulls appeared with a BTO ring.  It wouldn't stay still, but I continued to try and photograph the ring.  Not my best photos but code read.  EG79607.  At present all I know is that it is 9 years old.  I will await the sighting report, but it looks like a first sighting in those 9 years.

Recent Recoveries.

On November 22nd I recorded 2 adult Black-headed Gulls with metal rings.
EZ09042 was only ringed in 2017, as an Adult Westport Lake, Staffordshire, UK. This is near Stoke-on-Trent. This is about 280 Km away


EZ90582 was also ringed in 2017. Although it is now in full adult plumage, the orange legs gave it away as a 2nd year. Ringed in the nest at Shotton, Flintshire, UK, which is near Liverpool and only 220 Km away

November 25th

I got an hour on Sandymount Strand.  I missed high tide so was not expecting anything really.

There were 5 Brent Geese and I recorded my first Brent rings of the winter.  KKBY.  Ringed in 2015, I last sighted it in February 2018

I was relying on using 84X Zoom on my camera and the light was poor, but I persevered checking distant birds. I read an Oystercatcher and another of our Red Rings!

Herring Gull 120:D is an Urban Gull.  7 Months since last recorded

Oystercatcher PF. Ringed in 2014 as an Adult.  I hadn't recorded it for over 1 year.  Not sure if anyone else has?

November 24th

No birding today, but I did stop at Ben Madigan Park for 5 minutes.  Two of our red rings present.  The same two as usual - 264:D and 148:D.  Nothing surprising or so I thought.  However, 148:D was last photographed on Skerries Beach 30 Km north of here!  

Herring Gull 264:D

November 22nd

Lunch time trip to Tymon Park, where I expected to see the Polish Black-headed Gull Yellow[T96W].  On arrival there were only a dozen black-headed Gulls.  This quickly grew to about 30.  Two metal ringed adults landed.  Luckily one was a 2nd year with orange legs the other at least 3 years with Red legs.  So I stated photographing.  Despite poor light I captured both Codes.  EZ90582 was one I recorded at the same location in August from Flintshire (Near Liverpool), the other was EZ09042, new to me.

Black-headed Gull EZ90582 - Orange legs!

Black-headed Gull EZ09042 - Red legs!

I was just leaving when T96W made a brief appearance

Black-headed Gull from Poland

November 20th

First day of real "Winter weather" - 3 degrees and sleet.  Short trip to the park and I was just leaving when I couldn't decide if a Black-headed Gull in the Grass was Colour Ringed or not.  I went around the lake to find an adult with a Black Darvic starting with X which makes it from Eastern Germany.  Not having recorded this one before or indeed any from this scheme, I can only assume it was recently ringed.  I am awaiting the re-sighting report from Germany.

November 19th

At Lunch time one of our Red Rings in the Park.  695:D.  It turns out I saw it there on November 6th.  Oh well.  The usual suspects around as regard CR Black Headed Gulls.

November 17th

Bray Harbour this morning after my sons match.  100' of gulls, but no rings, not even a metal!  This afternoon I tried Sandyford Industrial Estate, not a Gull to be seen, so I went to Sandycove, Dun Laoghaire, just to read some Mediterranean Gulls.  Those recorded are ones ringed in Dublin while wintering in previous years.  Their life history reports are quite extensive.

Mediterranean Gull 2XK5.  Ringed as 2nd year in 2016

Mediterranean Gull 2X0E.  Ringed 2017 as a 2nd year

Mediterranean Gull 2XA6.  Ringed 2011 as a 1st Year. 

Mediterranean Gull 2X0E.  Ringed 2017 as a Juvenile

 I moved on to the base of the East Pier and was delighted to see a Juvenile German ringed Mediterranean Gull from Leipzig.

Mediterranean Gull Juvenile from Germany

It landed again near me and suddenly there were 2 German Juveniles!  AYKL is not one I have seen before!

I spotted a Metal on a Black-headed Gull and so the process of trying to record the code began.  61 photographs later I finally got the first 2 digits "ST".  Ringed in Finland in 2010 I have recorded it a number of times since at the same location.

Black-headed Gull ST283.477 from Finland.

November 14th

Grangecastle Business Park is 7 Km from Sean Walsh Park, and occassionally I head there at lunch time to read the Swans and Gull rings.  Today was one of those days and plenty of Gulls to check.   I spotted 1 with a red ring.  629:D is an Urban Herring Gull ringed in the City Center.  Checking the data base, I was the last person to see it on September 28th in Sean Walsh Park!

Herring Gull 629:D

November 13th

More changes in Sean Walsh Park!  Lake 2 or the Stadium Lake has been drained for a clean up.  This has been badly needed for the last couple of years.  The debris catcher at the entrance to the lake has been inefficient and lake is not just silted up but also full of rubbish!

Sean Walsh Park, Lake 2

November 12th

The fountain at lake 5 has been turned off and the numbers of Black Headed Gulls increased.  However, just the 2 colour rings and the Swedish metal ring among them.  No sign of the Swedish Gull 6430814!  Ringed in 2010, this Black-headed Gull has always appeared in the first 2 weeks of November.  Hopefully it will show soon.

Black-headed Gull 27H0 from England

Black-headed Gull 2ACA - Ringed here last year.

November 6th

At Sean Walsh Park at Lunchtime, I spotted a Herring Gull with a red Ring.  695:D is an Urban Gull from a nest on the roof of a City Center Hospital.  A 2nd sighting since it fledged.
I thought I saw Black-headed Gull 2ACB on a lamp post but it was raining so hard the camera wouldn't focus.  This would have been a first sighting since returning from Scotland.  Something to look out for in the coming days!

November 1st

I took a mid week trip to Howth Harbour.  A bright day with only a light breeze, it should have been excellent for reading rings.  The Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls ringed on the Island 2km from Howth are not being recorded and this was my opportunity to read as many as possible.  Although the weather was great and plenty of Gulls about, I only spotted 1 Red ring and 2 Blue rings!  Great Black-backed Gull, Red 412:D was recorded for a 2nd time at Howth Harbour, but it was ringed on St Patricks Island 22Km north of the Harbour.

Adult Herring Gulls 0LT and 0MC were both ringed as adults, so not sure if either are from the Ireland's Eye Colony

I left disappointed and went to the Bull Island.  Here I observed Red 053:D.  It is a 2nd year Urban Herring Gull.  I finally spotted 0LM.  Ringed as an adult on Irelands Eye in 2016.  A rather poor show.  I am getting in sightings of our Red Rings from as far away as Isles of Scilly, Northern Ireland, Wales etc but there just seems to be so few left in Dublin!!

In the afternoon a trip to Dun Laoghaire was hampered by poor light.  I did spot 2 yellow Ringed Med Gulls in a flock of 16.  But the light was failing and the photos don't do these Gulls justice