Adult Med Gull colour ringed 2H73 (black print on yellow)
It's a long time since we first ringed with PR at Pitsea tip, in fact looking at my personal data, just two of my Herring Gulls ringed in Oct 2008 and Jan 2009 and seen in France during 2017 are the only colour rings on my birds resighted. But, there's still plenty of time for more birds to be seen. Chris has been more recently than I have, usually to accompany trainees or other RRG group members for experience of this type of operation. So, we dusted off the steel toe-capped and soles boots, hard hats and high- viz jackets and made our way to the far side of London for 8am.
Chris and I joined the team today as we are reliably informed that this is definitely the last session on the tip. There have been previous last sessions, as organic matter coming in has reduced and gull numbers with it, but now there is a final date for when this nature of operations will close for good.
Gulls above Pitsea tip
It was a large team and we were ferried up onto the tip, in three trips, in PR's 4x4. Gulls were showing interest in some rubbish close by and a fresh delivery awaited. My first impression was that the gull numbers were well down and stink of rubbish was much reduced to past years, a result of less organic waste on site.The net was set quite quickly, with four cannons as I recalled. The final adjustments were made as the rest of the team took up position behind the equipment trailer while the rubbish was dumped and then spread in front of the net.
Setting the net.
The first catch was a good number of mainly Lesser Black-backed Gulls, some Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls. Second and third catches took a few more gulls but the numbers were far reduced to the classic four to five hundred catches in the group's heyday.
Adult LBBG
Age 5 Herring Gull
Adult Black-headed Gull with emergent summer plumage
The team processed all birds just metres from the catching area.
Full biometrics were taken for all large gulls.
Although relatively few Mediterranean gulls are ringed, they have an extremely
high rate of resightings. MS was fortunate to be the ringer of this stunning individual.
We would like to extend our thanks to Paul Roper and all those who have kept the efforts running throughout the lifespan of the North Thames Gull Group.
A link to the group's blog entry for the day.
Catch 1
Species Ringed Retraps Controls Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull 44 3 2 0
Lesser Black-backed Gull 17 0 0 17
Herring Gull 16 0 0 16
Hybrid 1 0 0 1
Total 78 3 2 34
Catch 2
Species Ringed Retraps Controls Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull 6 0 0 0
Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 0 0 1
Herring Gull 2 0 0 2
Total 9 0 0 3
Catch 3
Species Ringed Retraps Controls Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull 6 0 0 0
Mediterranean Gull 1 0 0 1
Herring Gull 3 0 0 3
Total 10 0 0 4
Trip total 97 3 2 4