December 10th

The birth (red) and wintering (blue) sites of the black-headed gull – yellow 2BE7 – that I saw at Saucehope on the 4th November 2018

I heard back from the ringer of the other black headed gull that I saw with a colour-ring  (Yellow 2BE7) at Saucehope on the 4^th of November. This bird was ringed as a chick in the Forvie Nature Reserve on the Ythan, just north of Aberdeen on the 30^th May 2016, and then seen again as a juvenile there 25 days later. It hasn’t been seen since so my record confirms it is still alive and its likely wintering site. Few breed by two years of age so this bird is likely to have its first breeding season next year and it is also likely to breed at it natal colony or nearby, like the Norwegian bird that was with it has done (see November 21^st entry). The Aberdeen black-headed gull has only travelled 124 kilometers as the gull flies from where it was born, but it will likely now be a Crail winter resident for the next 30 years if it gets lucky.

The colour-ringed black-headed gull at Saucehope