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.
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.