Lachmöwe

Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls - Livermere 26th June 2025

June to August is the peak period at Livermere in my oh so humble, expert opinion... 

It is outside of shooting season, firm under foot, large congregations of breeding/ post breeding birds and the potential for almost anything to drop in...

I mean, probably not a Griffon Vulture or a Puffin - but certainly dispersing wildfowl, gulls and waders. 

I've seen some great birds mid-summer; there is currently a Ruddy Shelduck in attendance and Black Tern, Black-necked Grebe, Whinchat and Wood Sandpiper have all been logged in August. There is inevitably others I've forgotten... 

There is also the thrill of the first juvenile Yellow-legged and Mediterranean Gulls of the year. Scaly juvenile Meds are a particular favourite. Expectantly searching out these gems keeps an inland birder away from alcoholism / recreational drugs / midlife crisis during the sultry, summer months.  

Another favoured past time when views allow is ring-reading. Tantalisingly, I've seen one colour ringed Yellow-legged and two colour ringed Black-headed Gulls recently, all of which kept just out ring-reading range. 

There was one Black-headed which did the honourable thing, coming into ring reading range. Turns out it is a German!

Black-headed Gull 'A730'

I gratefully received the birds history - in German - luckily I am completely fluent and could read every word. The bird was ringed on a lake called Binnenalster in Hamburg back in March of 2013. It has since Rotterdam in 2013, 2022 and 2024, Poland in 2017, Birchington, Kent in 2018 and 2019 and finally - it graced the mighty Livermere on 26th June 2025. 

This is a very, very high level of science. 

I am going to leave you with a gratuitous Yellow-legged Gull photo, because there is currently double figures at Livermere and I like them.

Yellow-legged Gull - Livermere 25th June 2025

Audouin's Gull - Fish Eating Beauty

It's a toss-up between Slender-billed and Audouin's for the best European gull. I know there are better gulls elsewhere in the world e.g. Sooty. But it's Monday morning and I cannot deal with that right now. 

I am not discounting Little and Ross's Gull, they are dainty stunners - they're just not proper gulls. I am talking about the chip-eating, bin-diving, paint covered monstrosities that surround me at all times. I am literally typing this from within a Lesser-black Backed Gull colony. True story. 

Audouin's Gull - adult summer bird Mallorca May 2025

Audouin's Gull - 2nd summer bird Mallorca May 2025

I cannot think about Audouin's Gull without my mind wandering to one of the best ever rarity finds and finders accounts ever. The Sheffield Audouin's. Seriously, read it. Instead of the usual dweeb recounting hours pouring over a an east coast hotspot or island and then becoming 'surprised' they've found a mega... this lad is just happily birding urban Sheffield, Either side of the working day, and absolutely kicks it's tits to the moon by finding an inland Audouin's! 

I am not sure how inner city, industrial Sheffield tallies with this species allegedly been strictly coastal, pelagic and otherwise only dining on fish? I've certainly watched them eyeing chips in a Mallorca all-inclusive holiday resort, that was still a stones throw from the beach, so more believable. 

Anyway, as well as furthering ornithology by simply visiting other Jonny in Mallorca and efficiently over-hydrating, I also furthered science with some ring-reading! Can you believe it?

I had this darvic ringed individual 'CUVJ' just to the south east of Can Picafort, at Finca Son Real on Saturday 10th May: 

Ringed Audouin's Gull Mallorca May 2025

I lost a little bit of respect for this gull when the limited history came back announcing that it had never visited Sheffield, or indeed any lesser Yorkshire towns like Leeds or Bradford. The only detail received was: 'it was a ring  11/06/2021 in Islote de Na Guardis, Mallorca by IRBI'.

As a Spanish speaker I can tell you, what the respondent is trying to say is 'it was ringed' on 11th June 2021 at an island called Na Guardis off the south west of Mallorca. Nobody knows what IRBI means. 

So, a 4 year old bird and a movement of some 50 odd kilometres as the Audouin's flies - and assuming it flew in a straight line and not around the coast or via Sheffield. Pretty impressive. 

Equally impressive is the fact that this isn't the first time I've ring-read an Audouin's this year! I also saw 'BM90' near Barcelona Airport back on 12th February:

Ringed Audouin's Gull Barcelona February 2025

Ringed Audouin's Gull Barcelona February 2025

Ringed Audouin's Gull Barcelona February 2025

Ringed Audouin's Gull Barcelona February 2025

BM90 was ringed in Valencia some 300km to the south -west of my Barcelona sighting, on 13th June 2013. Far more impressive, it was also sighted a year later in Morocco at Sidi Moussa Lagoon Nature Reserve on 31st October 2014. Over 1,300km to the south west of my sighting! 

The fact that BM90 then went unnoticed for 11 years is solely down to the quality of observers. It just required a more sciencey, ornithologist - like me - to break the chain of secrecy.

… and for that - you're most welcome. 

 

Blackpool-headed Gulls...

With family up in Blackpool I make the pilgrimage to Lancashire and the Fylde Bird Club recording area annually, often at Christmas.

Walks through Stanley Park have become a post-pandemic tradition. The park provides great birding, with congregations of gulls and wintering wildfowl in particular. The bird feeders also attract a great selection of woodland birds, notably Nuthatch. Ring-necked Parakeet seem to have become increasingly common over the last few years too.

I take a lot of pleasure in reading colour rings, predominantly Black-headed Gulls, but I’ve also seen ringed Herring Gulls and Mute Swans there. The rings have been applied by the Waterbird colour-marking group, with some 2,450 birds ringed and over 16,300 resulting sightings. A proportion of which are mine from Stanley Park jaunts.

Most of the birds reported this year loaf about Stanley Park itself, with few if any reports from elsewhere.

One bird ‘219E’ has had annual forays down to Poole Park, Dorset the last three summers. Presumably joining a breeding colony there.

The star of the show, however, was ‘2J52’. This little beaut was ringed as an adult up in the Lake District back in 2008 and has since made forays down to Lincolnshire back in 2019 and most excitingly for me; Norfolk last year.

Norfolk sightings include Sheringham, Scolt Head and Blakeney Point. Blakeney Point is particularly hallowed ground, with many fond memories crunching the shingle with friends.

In writing this I also noticed the scientific name ‘ridibundus’ which is the Latin name for ‘laughing’ or ‘laughing a lot’ it's also used in the scientific name for Marsh Frog. Who knew!