A FRENCH RINGED YELLOW-LEGGED GULL IN EAST LANCASHIRE - Autumn 2001.

TONY DISLEY. . 

On 30th August I decided to check Whinney Hill Tip, Altham, to look for Yellow legged Gulls in particular, having done so a couple of times over recent weeks without any success.

I had been at the tip for over an hour patiently checking and rechecking the mainly Lesser black backed Gulls which were feeding on the newly dumped rubbish close to the road but had not seen any likely candidates.

I decided to change position and view the more distant Gulls that were roosting and bathing on the other parts of the Quarry/Tip.  

Not seeing anything in particular among the distant Gulls, I scanned back to recheck the Gulls by the road and immediately noticed a dark mantled 3rd year “Herring”  Gull that stood out immediately perched on it’s own adjacent to a small gathering of LBBG and a few Herring Gulls, it had a distinctive facial appearance and obvious dark smudge around the eye.

I quickly looked at it’s legs which appeared a washed out yellowish/pink and immediately noticed a White ring on it’s right leg.

I had seen this bird in the Fishmoor roost with Bill Aspin only a week ago (Bill had first seen this bird at Fishmoor res on August 18^th) and we both agreed it was an interesting bird with an even more interesting ring!

Being White we knew it was not a local ringed bird, and with the rest of the birds appearance we strongly suspected it to be a Yellow legged Gull - a ringed one at that! But the views at Fishmoor were distant and in poor light, the bird was now very close and it was a Yellow legged Gull.  

I decided to quickly film the bird with my newly acquired Camcorder through my scope. After obtaining a few minutes of footage the bird was still in a position were I was not able to read the ring, frustratingly!

Suddenly the bird began walking towards an area of pipe that I had been watching Gulls sat on at close quarters from the road, yes I would now be able to read the ring number!!!

  I quickly ran to my car and drove up the road nearer to the bird, as I got out of the car it was still present and fairly close.

But when I scoped it’s leg ring I still couldn’t read it as it’s left leg was covering the ring, and I couldn’t read it if I changed position, as a large mound was obscuring the flock of gulls. I just had to wait and hope that it would move it’s legs by walking forward but without flying.

Whilst I was filming the bird it did the deed, and shuffled forwards revealing the all important ring details: 161C.  

I was now happy I had the full details, just then the flock took flight as a lorry drove towards them! On returning home I viewed the footage I had taken through the TV and was very happy with the results and happy that I had the full details.

I logged onto the internet and visited the European Colour Ringing Website, checking the

Yellow legged Gull section I quickly found the scheme which fitted the details of the bird, apart from one thing - the bird should have had a silver ring on it’s left leg!

I had another look at the footage of close ups of it’s legs and, yes there it was, a very difficult to see silver ring. The bird had been ringed somewhere in the south of France.

  I rang Bill Aspin to let him know that I had filmed the bird well and read it’s leg number, and agreed to meet him at his house to download the details onto the computer and to obtain some video grabs of the bird.

We both knew of an earlier French ringed Yellow legged Gull, a Juvenile on the Lune Estuary, north Lancs seen by Pete Crooks in September 1999.

We had a look at the article he had written on the Lancaster & District Birdwatching Website and informed Pete Marsh of our birds ring details, it quickly became apparent that it was the same bird that had been seen on the Lune Estuary in 1999.

The details in the article revealed it had been ringed as a Juvenile bird in a colony of Yellow legged Gulls at Lagune des Imperiaux in the Camargue on 12th May 1999, thus making it a 2nd summer moulting to 3rd winter.