Red 47K
9th July 2008, Wednesday
Mediterranean Gulls have expanded out of Europe in a dramatic way and because many have been colour ringed it is possible to see how this has happened. Red 47K was ringed on 29 June 2002 as a chick at Szeged, Csongrad, Hungary, it was then seen twice near Calais in October 2002, then six sightings at Hayling Island April 2004 then it wintered on the Hampshire coast, including the Isle of Wight. Then it was back at Hayling Island in March 2007 and then on to Pett Level in April 2007. Yesterday it was seen at Ternery Pool attending a fledged chick. It is an interesting and unusual strategy for a bird to nest so far from the place where it hatched.
Below is another photo of a different and very worn adult feeding a chick. Another curious strategy for a gull, perhaps evolved to reduce the theft of food within seabird colonies - the Sandwich Terns have lost many, many fish to the Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls!
