The return

Back in Gent after a superb four-week holiday in Thailand (maybe I will post some pictures later). Today was the first day I was able to look for rings, and I was hoping to see the return of the first Lesser black-backed gulls. I soon saw some of them, and just a little bit later the first ring was already found, so they are definately back, truly a great sight! The first bird was white Y.H, my first observation of this bird (it wintered in Spain the past 2 winters). Also there were the Danish Black-headed gull white VSH, and a Belgian metal-ringed Herring gull which I saw there in November too.

Next stop was the Blaarmeersen, where I was very happy to see LBBG white H.K, a well-known bird to me. I saw it for the first time there in 2003 (it then wore a Spanish orange ring), and then again last October. Later this winter it was seen in Pinto, Spain (J Marchamalo), and now back in Belgium, on its way to its breeding grounds! I also saw white N.S there, and RJ Buijs just informed me these birds are partners! With this very succesfull day in mind, I will try to find many more c-ringed LBBG's this spring.

ad LBBG white Y.H (RJ Buijs), my first observation of this one.

ad LBBG white H.K (RJ Buijs), my 4th observation.

ad LBBG white N.S (RJ Buijs), my first observation, this is the partner of white H.K.

Black-headed gull white VSH

Yesterday I could only find 1 c-ringed gull, one of the wintering Danish Black-headed gulls, white VSH (TK Pedersen). It was my 5th sighting of this bird, and the 3rd this winter. Last winter my last sighting was on January 30, let's see if it stays longer this year.

ad Black-headed gull white VSH (KT Pedersen).

To the coast

A day at the coast today, to see some lingering rarities, and to find some c-ringed gulls. No luck with the Black-throated thrush, but the rest of the birds were more cooperative. I started with a Rough-legged buzzard Buteo lagopus near Oostende, followed by 3 Pale-bellied brent geese Branta bernicla hrota, a nice flock of 12 Greater scaup Aythya marila, a Horned grebe Podiceps auritus, a very nice adult Black brant Branta bernicla nigricans (only the 3rd Belgian record), another Rough-legged buzzard, and finally also one of the wintering White-tailed eagles Haliaeetus albicilla.

I could also read 10 c-rings today, of which 4 were new. Best birds were a Danish Black-headed gull, a new Norwegian Greater black-backed gull and a French Lesser black-backed gull. The other rings were 6 Belgian Herrings and the regular British Herring white A3MM.

adult Black brant, Uitkerkse Polders.

2nd cal Rough-legged buzzard, Oostende.

ad Black-headed gull white PNN (TK Pedersen), Oostende.

ad Herring gull blue MWA.Z (E Stienen), Oostende.

2nd cal Herring gull blue MU.AD (E Stienen), Oostende.

ad Herring gull blue KP.AM (E Stienen), Oostende.

ad Herring gull blue GF.AB (E Stienen), Oostende.

ad Herring gull white A3MM (R Thompson).

First rings in Gent

On a short trip in Gent today I saw 2 of the local birds: Black-headed gull yellow EHNP (back after the harsh winter weather) (T Audenaert & G Spanoghe), and Dutch Herring yellow E/E171 (N van Swelm).

Adult Black-headed gull yellow EHNP (T Audenaert & G Spanoghe), first observation since half December, after which severe frost and snow started.

Adult Herring yellow E/E171 (N van Swelm), previous observation was on December 5th.

Final rings of 2010, and the first ones of 2011

First of all a very happy New Year for everyone reading this! I hope 2011 will bring lots of c-ringed birds for everyone.

This weekend I made a 2-day visit to the area of Boulogne-sur-Mer. Since it was a trip with my girlfriend, I didn't do whole days of gull-watching, but during some beach-walks I managed to scan quite some birds, resulting in 48 rings. One of the last birds of 2010 was a nice 17-year old Common gull from Norway, white J111 (NH Lorentzen) near Cap Gris-Nez. Apart from this bird, I also saw 2 Belgian Herrings (E Stienen) and 1 Dutch Lesser black-backed (N van Swelm).

The first day of 2011 started with MedGulls at Le Portel and Wimereux, with also some locally-ringed Black-headed gulls, Belgian Herrings and Norwegian Greater black-backeds. A very nice end/start to 2010/2011, and hopefully the start of many more rings to read this year!

Common gull white J111 (NH Lorentzen), first ringed in 1993!

MedGull green R74N (C Duponcheel).

MedGull green R03K (C Duponcheel).
MedGull green 193 (C Duponcheel).

MedGull white 3E13 (R Flamand).

Male Pied wagtail Motacilla alba yarrellii, Boulogne-sur-Mer.

Some winter birds

Due to snow and frost in many parts of Europe, many birds seem to be on the move. Today in Gent, I found 2 Common merganser Mergus merganser, the first time I see them so close to the city. Also 1 black-ringed Black-headed gull, but it flew away before I could read it...

A few weeks ago I could also take some pictures of a large flock of Twite Carduelis flaviristris in the Zwin near Knokke (59 birds, the largest group I have ever seen overhere), and I paid another visit to the Black-thorated thrush (which is still present).

1st cy Common merganser, Gent.



Part of the flock of Twite, Knokke.

1st cy male Black-throated thrush, Loppem.

GBBG from Denmark

Another day in and near the harbour of Oostende, where surprisingly few gulls were present. I only saw 6 ringed birds, but they included some nice ones. 3 Herring gulls were all well known birds, but a c-ringed Greater black-backed gull with black ring JW209 turned out to be ringed in Denmark instead of Norway, a nice surprise! I could also read 2 metal-ringed Black-headed gulls, 1 from Belgium and 1 from the Netherlands. By entering this ring into the Dutch website (www.griel.nl) I already got the ringing details, it was ringed as a nestling last year at Starrevaart near Den Haag.

1st cy Greater black-backed gull black JW209 (NH Lorenzen), ringed in Denmark.

ad Herring gull blue MWA.Z (E Stienen).

ad Herring gull blue KP.AM (E Stienen).

3rd cy Herring gull blue C.FAR (E Stienen).

2nd cy Black-headed gull with Dutch metal ring.