H.TAP @ Rottumeroog, The Netherlands

On April 29 this colour-ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull (blue H.TAP, white inscription) was noticed among others in the 'Westkwelder', in front of our house on Rottumeroog. All the way from Belgium..?

 

Ringed as pullus on 18-07-2008 in Zeebrugge (Voorhaven), West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. 51°21'0''N 3°11'0''E INBO. Present again on Rottumeroog on April 30...

2738 gulls and one ring

Yesterday (April 25) all Herring - and Lesser Black-backed Gulls present on or above the island Rottumeroog were counted. Among the 1194 Herring Gulls and 1544 Lesser Black-backed Gulls that were counted was this colour-ringed LBBG, which was present at the North Sea beach (ORANGE VB6.T, BLACK inscription)...

It turned out this bird was ringed as an adult on February 11, 2012, at the Rainham Tip in Greater London. In March of that year it was seen on Rottumeroog twice, so it probably is a bird that is resident to this area in summer.

E-gull, today @ 't Zuiderduin

E-gull and friends.

Unread Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps).

'Bang on!'

Colour-ringed Herring Gull Larus argentatus @ het Zuiderduin

Seen there and read by me today, for a second time this spring. We met before in 2011 when this gull could be read repeatedly during the summer. Colour-rings: LW/GY, ringing place: NL Schiermonnikoog, Oosterkwelder 5329N-0609E, ringing age: nestling, ringing date: 16-07-05 sex: unknown, ringer: Otto Overdijk. The bird on the right is a Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres.

Colour-ringed Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus @ Rottumeroog

Seen in breeding habitat on April 13 2013. Where does it come from..?

 

April 23: It turned out that there was a light blue tibia ring involved. It appeared on one of the photos too. I recently got informed that it is a bird ringed in Beltringharder Koog (Germany) on June 18, 2010. It was seen there regularly during the following summers, once with three chicks. Only two days after my observation of this bird on Rottumeroog it was noticed in Beltringharder Koog again and read there by Dominic Cimiotti for the first time this year. There were are no records of this bird during winter months. I remember seeing quite a lot of them around Aveiro, Portugal, so you could start to look for it there around that time.

 

Siberian spring @ Rottumeroog, The Netherlands...

The Harculo power - and ringing station

On March 31st I visited the bird ringing station Harculo, located in the gardens of a power plant, just south of Zwolle (The Netherlands). This ringing station started in October 2012 and is being operated by some of my friends and colleagues on a regular basis. The following birds were netted, measured, ringed and released (with the number of recaptures in parentheses) during a pleasant but early easter morning:

Great Tit Parus major 3(2)

Blue Tit Parus caeruleus 2(2)

Common Blackbird Turdus merula 3(1)

Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus 4(0)

Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs 3(0)

Eurasian Wren Troglodytes troglodytes 1(0)

Greenfinch Carduelis chloris 2(0)

White Wagtail Motacilla alba 1(0)

We were working under the careful eyes of this Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus, which inhabits the power plant. Its mate currently incubates eggs in a nest box mounted in the top of a 60 meter high wall of the site.

An adult Greater Black-backed Gull Larus marinus at the cooling water inlet.