2NRS Black-headed Gull back at Osterley Park
Black-headed Gull 2NRS spent the winter at Osterley Park in 2017 from October to December and is back there again seen on 25th September 2018.
Little Egret at Rye Meads ON(V) GW(6)
Great picture of ON(V) GW(6) at Rye Meads in July 2018 from Janet Martin. Originally ringed in 2013 this bird is seen regularly at Rye Meads but has not been seen anywhere else.
Brent Goose Green AX gets furthest East so far
We have had news that Brent Goose Green AX has reached Germany and was present between 17th and 27th April at Langenwerder in Germany. This bird was last seen at Blue House Farm in February so we are delighted to see it is on the way to the breeding grounds and good to get a length of time for stop over in Germany.
Two more Brent Geese seen in Holland
Excellent news that two more Brent Geese have been seen in Holland this week from Tom Voortman. This includes GA W which has not been seen since ringing. Leaving only one bird that has not been resighted since ringing. Photos by Tom Voortman.
North Thames Gull Group and Southern Colour Ringing Group
After 34 years of operating on Pitsea Landfill site catching gulls the North Thames Gull Group have taken their last catch on the site. The landfill is due to close in 2018 and already the food waste has reduced considerably meaning so have the numbers of gulls. The last catch was taken on Tuesday 13th of March 2018. Fittingly the last catch included an adult Mediterranean Gull so it was nice to finish on a good bird. However, although this is the end of the field work it is certainly not the end of the NTGG. In 2008 the group decided to attempt to answer the question “what will happen to the gulls using the tip when they close”. This means that the critical point has now been reached and we can now look at some analysis rather than field work. We have decided to compartmentalise our work into three phases, 1984 to 2008 which covers metal ringed birds only. This will give us some sort of base line but given the differences between recovery rates for metal ringed and colour ringed birds the main comparison will be between the next two periods. The second period will be 2008 to 2018 which makes a neat 10 years of colour ringing. The final period will be the sightings and birds recovered between 2018 and 2023 (initially a five year period). We may then consider a further five year period if we feel we still have enough gulls marked surviving to give us comparable data.