A few weeks ago I came across three different Herring Gulls with colour rings on their legs within the space of just a few days, all in roughly the same area; the Swale in North Kent, UK. The first of the three birds I noticed briefly on the shoreline before it took off. I took a couple of quick photographs of it at some distance in poor light and did not really think that I would be able to read the code on the colour ring. However, when I zoomed in on the leg I found that I had luckily caught the ring at the right angle and by looking at the series of photos I was able to make out the whole of the alphanumeric code. I was quite surprised that it was possible to read the ring from photos taken at such a range and when I spotted two more Herring Gulls with similar rings I did not hesitate to photograph them even though I was some distance from them.

I was able to read all three colour rings and report them to the relevant group that had ringed all three birds. Photographs off all three birds are displayed below as are the maps that I received showing where the birds were originally ringed and other subsequent reports of the birds.

I used European Colour Ring Birding website to find that all three gulls were part of the North Thames Gull Group ringing project so I emailed them with the relevant information; location, date and ring code.

The above is the first of the three birds I photographed in poor weather conditions at Shellness, Kent on 26th September 2020. The code on the orange leg ring is V7VT and it was ringed at Ockendon Landfill Site on 16th February 2019 with no other reports in the time period between.

Once again I am struck by how close to the ringing location my record of a ringed bird is. In other blog posts I have documented similar things; Colour Ringed Great Black-backed Gull; Reporting a Ringed Mediterranean Gull.

When I saw this second (above) Herring Gull with a leg ring I thought it was the same bird from a few days beforehand. However, with better light I was able to get this photo and read it when I was in the field from the back of my camera to see that it had a different code: NA1Z. I photographed it close to Seasalter in North Kent.

The information I received on this individual is that it was ringed at Pitsea Landfull Site in Essex on 25th March 2017 with one other report of it on 6th November 2019 at exactly the same location as my recovery on 28th September 2020.

The third gull (above) I found alongside the second one but the ring code was very worn and difficult to read until I zoomed in on the photo above. The code is U7VT and it was ringed at Ockendon Landfill Site on 16th February 2019 and also reported at Seasalter, Kent on 3rd October 2019 which once again is exactly where I saw it on 28th September 2020.

It is interesting to me how we usually think of birds as flying all around the world, and indeed many of them do, but usually when I report colour ringed birds I find that they have not travelled very far at all. I suppose that if there is food and somewhere to nest there is no real reason for birds to travel very far at all.

By reporting these colour ringed birds I hope that the ringing projects are able to find the data useful and I would encourage others to look out for ringed birds. If nothing else it adds some interest to a day when there are not so many other birds of interest to see.