Life History of White 3P17

A couple of days ago I posted a few pictures on here of the Mediterranean Gulls that I had seen gathered at Bracelet Bay near Mumbles. One of the birds I noticed had a coloured ring on its leg so I sent the details off to Barry Stewart to see if he could contact the relevant people to pass on my sighting. Many thanks must go to him as he duly did and I am now in the possession of the life history of White 3P17.

This gull has worked its way through three different ring colours over the years, but it was originally ringed in Antwerpen, Belgium in June 2002. Since then it has visited this corner of Wales on at least three occasions. For me the most fascinating part is that only a couple of weeks ago this bird was in Germany before traveling to Sussex and then finally to Bracelet Bay. I am obviously fully aware of bird migration but this is the first time that I have ever been able to see the detailed history of a bird that I have watched for myself in the wild. I will certainly be keeping my eye out for other ringed birds in the future. My thanks must also go to Camille Duponcheel for supplying the information below. If you happen to see any more ringed Mediterranean Gulls in the area then please pass the details onto her. I can supply the email address if needed.

Summary of rings for White 3P17

Colour Code of ring Leg Ringing Metal ring Age of bird Ringing date Ringing location Ringer

Bruxelles E267507 Bruxelles E267507 pullus 04/06/2002 Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E

Green 3XN6 left Bruxelles E901570 3CY 19/05/2004 Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E

White 3P17 left Bruxelles E901570 >3CY 14/05/2006 Zwijndrecht (Ineos complex), Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,15N 4,2E

Sightings for individual: White 3P17

Green 3XN6 v 21/07/2004 Blackpill, Swansea Bay, Glamorgan, Wales, GB 51,36N 3,59W Howells, R.J. (Bob)

Green 3XN6 v 09/08/2005 Le Portel, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE 50,42N 1,34E Duponcheel, Camille

White 3P17 v 05/03/2007 Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E Flamant, Renaud

White 3P17 v 26/03/2007 Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E Flamant, Renaud

White 3P17 v 11/04/2007 Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E Flamant, Renaud

White 3P17 v 17/06/2007 Wetlands Centre for Wales, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, GB 51,39N 4,08W Stewart, Barry

White 3P17 v 18/06/2007 Wetlands Centre for Wales, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, GB 51,39N 4,08W Stewart, Barry

White 3P17 v 20/06/2007 Wetlands Centre for Wales, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, GB 51,39N 4,08W Wendell, Thomas

White 3P17 v 15/10/2007 Blackpill, Swansea Bay, Glamorgan, Wales, GB 51,36N 3,59W Stewart, Barry

White 3P17 v 04/03/2008 Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E Jacobs, Jos

White 3P17 v 04/03/2008 Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E Keijser, Hans A.

White 3P17 v 06/03/2008 Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E Flamant, Renaud

White 3P17 v 08/03/2008 Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E Jacobs, Jos

White 3P17 v 29/03/2008 Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E Wolf, Pim A.

White 3P17 v 29/03/2008 Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E Lilipaly, Sander

White 3P17 v 31/03/2008 Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E Flamant, Renaud

White 3P17 v 31/03/2008 Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E Jacobs, Jos

White 3P17 v 31/03/2008 Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E Wolf, Pim A.

White 3P17 v 19/04/2009 Wieringermeer, Noord-Holland, NL 52,53N 4,56E with picture Visscher, Fred

White 3P17 v 05/06/2009 bone meal dump sw Delitzsch, Nordsachsen, Sachsen, GERMANY 51,31N Steudtner, Jürgen

White 3P17 v 24/04/2010 Conchil le Temple, Pas de Calais, FRANCE 50,22N 1,4E female copulation paired with white 3T79 Sauvage, Jean Michel

White 3P17 v 01/07/2010 bone meal dump sw Delitzsch, Nordsachsen, Sachsen, GERMANY 51,31N picture taken Steudtner, Jürgen

White 3P17 v 04/07/2010 bone meal dump sw Delitzsch, Nordsachsen, Sachsen, GERMANY 51,31N picture taken Steudtner, Jürgen

White 3P17 v 13/07/2010 River Adur, Shoreham Airport, Sussex, GB 50,5N 0,17W Fairbank, Richard

White 3P17 v 18/07/2010 Bracelet Bay, Mumbles, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, GB 51,34N 3,59W Tilt, Adam