Just before Christmas I found another ringed Mediterranean Gull (white 3C78) at Bracelet Bay on Gower. I duly sent my finding off to the relevant ringers and was amazed to find that this bird had originally been caught on the same day and in the same place as the last ringed Mediterrnean Gull I had found there (white 3P17). In contrast to that bird white 3C78 has been very heavily reported over the last eight years giving a superb overview of the migratory routes that these birds take. The full life history can be found below.

23772 - Mediterranean Gull, Bracelet Bay

Summary of rings for individual:                          14614

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

  Green     46E               left             Bruxelles     E188581         pullus             04/06/2002  Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E

  White     3C78             left             Bruxelles     E910138         >3CY              21/05/2006  Zandvlietsluis, Antwerpen, BELGIUM 51,2N 4,17E

Sightings for individual:                                       14614

  Green       46E         v            03/02/2003  Bracelet Bay, Mumbles, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,34N 3,59W  Grenfell, Harold E.

  Green       46E         v            06/02/2003  Bracelet Bay, Mumbles, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,34N 3,59W  Grenfell, Harold E.

  Green       46E         v            10/02/2003  Bracelet Bay, Mumbles, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,34N 3,59W  Grenfell, Harold E.

  Green       46E         v            24/02/2003  Bracelet Bay, Mumbles, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,34N 3,59W  Grenfell, Harold E.

  Green       46E         v            09/09/2003  Bracelet Bay, Mumbles, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,34N 3,59W  Stewart, Barry

  Green       46E         v            28/11/2003  Blackpill, Swansea Bay, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,36N 3,59W  Bantock, Tristan

  Green       46E         v            12/02/2004  Blackpill, Swansea Bay, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,36N 3,59W  Howells, R.J. (Bob)

  Green       46E         v            10/03/2004  Bracelet Bay, Mumbles, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,34N 3,59W  Tew, Ian

  Green       46E         v            22/07/2005  Bracelet Bay, Mumbles, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,34N 3,59W  Stewart, Barry

  Green       46E         v            05/11/2005  Bracelet Bay, Mumbles, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,34N 3,59W  Stewart, Barry

  Green       46E         v            03/04/2006  Le Platier d’Oye Plage, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  51N 2,02E  Duponcheel, Camille

  Green       46E         v            04/04/2006  Le Platier d’Oye Plage, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  51N 2,02E  Gibourdel, Severine

  Green       46E         v            04/04/2006  Le Platier d’Oye Plage, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  51N 2,02E  Huchin, François

  Green       46E         v            04/04/2006  Le Platier d’Oye Plage, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  51N 2,02E  Sauvage, Jean Michel

  Green       46E         v            06/04/2006  Le Platier d’Oye Plage, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  51N 2,02E  Gibourdel, Severine

  Green       46E         v            06/04/2006  Le Platier d’Oye Plage, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  51N 2,02E  Huchin, François

  White       3C78       v            21/07/2006  Le Portel, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  50,42N 1,34E  Duponcheel, Camille

  White       3C78       v            06/03/2007  Blackpill, Swansea Bay, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,36N 3,59W  Howells, R.J. (Bob)

  White       3C78       v            24/03/2007  Domaine du Marquenterre, Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont, Somme, FRANCE  50,15N 1,34E  Sauvage, Jean Michel

  White       3C78       v            25/03/2007  Domaine du Marquenterre, Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont, Somme, FRANCE  50,15N 1,34E  Decory, Patrick

  White       3C78       v            25/03/2007  Domaine du Marquenterre, Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont, Somme, FRANCE  50,15N 1,34E  Equipe Parc du Marquenterre

  White       3C78       v            25/03/2007  Domaine du Marquenterre, Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont, Somme, FRANCE  50,15N 1,34E  Sauvage, Elisabeth

  White       3C78       v            25/03/2007  Domaine du Marquenterre, Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont, Somme, FRANCE  50,15N 1,34E  Sueur, François

  White       3C78       v            05/04/2007  Domaine du Marquenterre, Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont, Somme, FRANCE  50,15N 1,34E  Sauvage, Elisabeth

  White       3C78       v            09/04/2007  Domaine du Marquenterre, Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont, Somme, FRANCE  50,15N 1,34E  Sueur, François

  White       3C78       v            09/04/2007  Domaine du Marquenterre, Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont, Somme, FRANCE  50,15N 1,34E  Sauvage, Elisabeth

  White       3C78       v            27/07/2007  Blackpill, Swansea Bay, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,36N 3,59W  Stewart, Barry

  White       3C78       v            08/12/2007  Blackpill, Swansea Bay, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,36N 3,59W                       read as ?C78  Howells, R.J. (Bob)

  White       3C78       v            26/03/2008  Oye Plage, Les Huttes d’Oye, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  50,59N 2,03E  Sibille, Alexandre

  White       3C78       v            29/03/2008  Oye Plage, Les Huttes d’Oye, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  50,59N 2,03E  De Smet, Walter

  White       3C78       v            29/03/2008  Oye Plage, Les Huttes d’Oye, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  50,59N 2,03E  Sibille, Alexandre

  White       3C78       v            01/04/2008  Oye Plage, Les Huttes d’Oye, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  50,59N 2,03E  Duponcheel, Camille

  White       3C78       v            01/04/2008  Oye Plage, Les Huttes d’Oye, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  50,59N 2,03E  Gruvier, Xavier

  White       3C78       v            07/04/2008  Oye Plage, Les Huttes d’Oye, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  50,59N 2,03E  Driencourt, Alexandre

  White       3C78       v            07/04/2008  Oye Plage, Les Huttes d’Oye, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  50,59N 2,03E  Gruvier, Xavier

  White       3C78       v            20/04/2008  Oye Plage, Les Huttes d’Oye, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  50,59N 2,03E  Sauvage, Jean Michel

  White       3C78       v            26/04/2008  Oye Plage, Les Huttes d’Oye, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  50,59N 2,03E  Sauvage, Jean Michel

  White       3C78       v            28/04/2008  Noordelijk Insteekdok, Oost-Vlaanderen, BELGIUM  51,17N 4,13E  Flamant, Renaud

  White       3C78       v            29/04/2008  Noordelijk Insteekdok, Oost-Vlaanderen, BELGIUM  51,17N 4,13E  Flamant, Renaud

  White       3C78       v            02/05/2008  Noordelijk Insteekdok, Oost-Vlaanderen, BELGIUM  51,17N 4,13E  Flamant, Renaud

  White       3C78       v            26/05/2008  Noordelijk Insteekdok, Oost-Vlaanderen, BELGIUM  51,17N 4,13E  De Smet, Walter

  White       3C78       v            08/03/2009  Bracelet Bay, Mumbles, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,34N 3,59W  Grenfell, Harold E.

  White       3C78       v            26/07/2009  Le Portel, Pas-de-Calais, FRANCE  50,42N 1,34E  Duponcheel, Camille

  White       3C78       v            25/09/2009  Bracelet Bay, Mumbles, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,34N 3,59W  Stewart, Barry

  White       3C78       v            20/03/2010  Pannel Valley, Icklesham, Sussex, GB  50,54N 0,41W  Hunter, Ian

  White       3C78       v            15/04/2010  Conchil le Temple, Pas de Calais, FRANCE  50,22N 1,4E  Sauvage, Jean Michel

  White       3C78       v            17/04/2010  Conchil le Temple, Pas de Calais, FRANCE  50,22N 1,4E  Sauvage, Jean Michel

  White       3C78       v            18/04/2010  Conchil le Temple, Pas de Calais, FRANCE  50,22N 1,4E                               female regurgitation  Sauvage, Jean Michel

  White       3C78       v            27/04/2010  Conchil le Temple, Pas de Calais, FRANCE  50,22N 1,4E  Sauvage, Jean Michel

  White       3C78       v            09/10/2010  Blackpill, Swansea Bay, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,36N 3,59W  Wydenbach, Eric

  White     3C78      v           18/12/2010           Bracelet Bay, Mumbles, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, GB  51,34N 3,59W     Tilt, Adam


8 Comments

holdingmoments · January 20, 2011 at 9:25 pm

Fascinating to read Adam.
He certainly gets about a bit.

Caroline Gill · January 20, 2011 at 10:14 pm

Truly amazing, Adam. Fine bird, too!

Adam Tilt · January 21, 2011 at 9:39 am

Thanks guys. It's very interesting to see the history of these birds. I was surprised at just how old this one was as well.

Empty Nester · January 26, 2011 at 1:13 pm

What a beautiful shot of a beautiful bird!

Sondra · January 26, 2011 at 2:53 pm

That is so amazing–what a record!! And a great photo of him too!! Excellent bio-

Springman · January 26, 2011 at 5:03 pm

Amazing stuff. What a great study to be involved in. Wonderful photograph too!

theconstantwalker · January 26, 2011 at 7:21 pm

A great post Adam. You have really enlightened me about the work of ringers. So much info about a beautiful bird.

Adam Tilt · January 27, 2011 at 4:13 pm

Thanks everyone. It really is worth looking out for any ringed birds that you might see as the more sightings that are reported the more we can learn about them.

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