Mediterranean Gulls have been a major feature this winter the daily sightings log at Radipole. Record counts have been smashed several times and currently stands at an incredible 230+. As well as large numbers of Med Gull we've also had plenty of colour ring sightings which I have mentioned on this blog a couple of times. Saturday morning I saw a red ring on a 2nd winter Med Gull and got a little excited. Red rings always are from a little further afield than the majority the birds which come from France. The number on the ring was one I didn't recognise which got me straight onto the PC to find out where it’s from.
The ring number was YHL1. Found out later on Saturday that this bird was from Serbia! We haven’t had any birds from there before and it’s probably the longest distance we've had a Med Gull travel. The next few weeks will be good for looking out for Mediterranean Gulls at Radipole as they are coming into breeding plumage which is pretty spectacular. This one was photographed last week on the car park.
It's a cracker! He seems quite at home, even got his own parking spot!
Seize the day!