Caspian Gull in Bergen

The 5th of January is with out doubt one of the highlights in our gull ringing career. We managed to ring a gull we think is a Caspian Gull (Larus cachinnans). The possibility of a Caspian x Herring Gull hybrid have not been ruled out yet, but this will be very good bird here in Western Norway anyway. Our gull year started on the 4th of January when we ringed a 2 cy Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides) at Osøyro. Yesterday we searched our local spots for more white-winged gulls. We managed to find a new 2 cy Iceland Gull in a freshwater outlet in the fjord outside Bergen which was not interested in bread at all. However, back to the Caspian gull. When we threw bread to the around 150 Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) in the city centre lake in Bergen a white headed gull draw our attention. Could it be a Caspian or was it just an odd looking Herring Gull. We took a few snapshots and decided to catch the bird to get in hand documentation, measurements and a blood sample. The bird was very hungry, so the catching was relatively easy. Well at home that evening we started to read the available Caspian Gull identification papers and contacting the gull experts we know. As the evening tuned to night we was quite convinced that the bird could be a Caspian Gull.

This bird is our second bird to be ringed in 2013, so if the experts agree for a Caspian Gull we have a really good start to the new year. Also if accepted as a Caspian Gull this will be the first ever ringed in Norway and also the second observation of this species in Hordaland county.

Second winter Caspian Gull JN879. Note the venetian-blind pattern visible on the inner primaries where the outer webs are dark contrasting with pale grey inner webs. This contrast is much less marked in Herring Gulls.

The almost totally white under wing is typical Caspian Gull. Axilliares are also unmarked on this bird which is another good CG character.

The tail pattern is a black narrow sharp defined tail band against a near white upper tail and rump.

White head is one of the best known CG characters

The CG before ringing. The venetian-blind pattern is even more visible on this picture so are the pale lozenges on the outer web of P3 and P2 on the right wing.

The comments from the national and international experts are so far promising. Chris Gibbins the author of two extensive identification papers on Caspian Gull think the bird looks like a Caspian Gull. The other comments can be seen at the gull-research forum.

We are greatful to Morten Helberg, Kjeld T. Pedersen, Alf Tore Mjøs, Frode Falkenberg, Chris Gibbins, Theo Muuse and Jan Jörgensen for comments and help with the identification of the bird.

Results from the Morocco expedition

After we came home from Morocco and got used to -10 degrees and snow, the long dark evenings was used to punch the gull readings in excel. This work was more extensive than expected, which of course is most joyful. The total number of readings was about 735 of 367 different individuals. The e-mails with observations are at the moment sent to the different project managers and we are really looking forward to get the life histories and ringing informations. When this information is received and we have done some computing we will give a summary of the results as a post on this blog! The summary for the different 'countries' are as follows:

Country	Observations	Number ind.
Norway	231	99
The Netherlands	150	79
England	80	38
Belgium	71	37
Denmark	54	28
Spain	28	28*
Guernsey	25	10
Scotland	19	8
France	17	6
Germany	14	6
Iceland	9	4
Portugal	4	1
Sweden	1	1**
Unknown	32	22

*27 Audouin's Gulls and one Black-headed Gull
**Reading of metall ring

The species was dominated by Lesser Black-backed gull (Larus fuscus) followed by Audouin's Gull (Larus audouinii)

Species	Observations	Number ind.
Lesser Black-backed gull	706	338
Audouin's Gull	27	27
Mediterranean Gull	1	1
Black-headed Gull	1	1

We will end this blog with a picture of the reading that in our opinion was the best for us. This male Lesser Black-backed Gull JA8K was ringed on top of the Science building at University of Bergen. He incubated on three eggs but we do unfortunately not know who his girlfriend is. If he stick to her one more year we hopefully get more information in 2013. This picture was taken on the last observation date in Bergen 20th of August 2012.

Norwegian invasion in Anza

This morning we decided to start in Souss which turned out to be a waste of daylight. The best place on this site was partly made into a new road and reduced in size. We did not see any Lesser Black-backed Gull sitting, the few we saw was flying over. We quickly changed the plan and went straight to Anza. We arrived around 08:30 and before one hour had gone, over 20 different Norwegian ringed gulls had been seen. In the end of the day the number of gulls with Norwegian origin was impressive 52 different birds. This number is new high of Norwegian LBBGs recorded in Morocco in  a single day! The previous record was 48 from 27.01.2009 when two different teams were here. The total number of Norwegian ringed LBBGs on our trip is now 86. The total number of rings read today is between 150 and 160. Today the first urban gull ringed in Bergen appeared in Anza, finally! After almost 40 hours in the fish odor in Anza, J8Y0 was sitting on the beach. Another bird we appreciated was J4Z3, which we saw in one of our urban lakes in Bergen earlier this spring. This bird was ringed at Karmøy south of Bergen by Karmøy ringing group.

A local man in Anza came with these rings to us and told us he had found them on dead gulls on the beach. We will report them to the correct ringing scheme when we come home.

JR2Y is ringed as a pullus in Troms by Morten Helberg in 2012.

2.VO is ringed by Paul Veron on Guernsey

Yet another day in Anza

As the two previous days, we followed the same schedule and took the beach in Agadir from 07:00 to about 08:00 and the rest of the day in Anza. As you can see from the pictures below the number of gulls were fantastic. It's almost impossible to estimate numbers. The total result was a bit lower than the previous days with around 130 readings. Of these 41 had Norwegian rings which is a new high for us on this trip. This means that over 1/3 of the Lesser Black-backed Gulls with rings in Anza are ringed in Norway. On our three days in Anza we have also experienced that the time between 16:00 and dusk is the time many new gulls come to feed, especially adults. Some of the old ones have only been seen briefly during these hours. The bird on the picture above (JP2R) ruled the river with fish remains Anza. It was ringed at an island south of Mandal this year by two of the persons responsible for the domination of Norwegian rings in Anza today, Morten Helberg and Finn Jørgensen. We also had two other birds ringed on the same island on the same day, which is impressive!

Our view in Anza today, really impressive numbers of gulls

This first year LBBG 4AP5 is ringed by Paul Veron at Guernsey

J271 is ringed in a fuscus fuscus colony in Northern Norway and could possibly be and individual of this subspecies which has a western wintering site.

V.R6J is ringed in Denmark

Anza delivers again

Yesterday evening the plan for this day was already set. Agadir beach in the morning and the rest of the day in Anza. We followed this plan and got awarded with around 130 readings of Lesser Black-backed Gulls (Larus fuscus).  Some of these are the same as yesterday, but not as much as expected. The turnover of gulls in Anza is large and we think that even after 22 hours spent in Anza, tomorrow will give us new birds. We have summarized the Norwegian birds and we have got a total of 55 different LBBGs! Two of todays highlights were a leucistic Lesser Black-backed Gull and the long awaited own ringed LBBG. 10 minutes before dusk J3Y5 was sitting in the dirty water coming out of the fish factory. This bird is ringed as a pullus in 2010 in our monitoring colony at Lyngøy in Hordaland. It was also seen in Blaringhem in France by Harry Vercruijsse earlier this year.

Leucistic Lesser Black-backed Gull

905N from France

JV4C ringed as a first year bird in Kolbotnvannet, Norway

J0K6 ringed as pullus in Lindesnes, Norway has lost a foot

5.M is one of 16 different birds we have read from this project.

J3Y5 the long awaited own ringed LBBG from Lyngøy

Crazy day in Anza

The first day in Agadir started before dusk and ended in dawn after gull watching in 11 hours. We stared on the beach in Agadir and quickly got ten readings before people, and dogs started their morning  exercise. The next 10 hours was spent in Anza where the gulls was numerous today. In total we read around 140 different Lesser Black-backed gulls (Larus fuscus) including 39 from Norway. One of the highlights was JU04 which we also saw in Anza this spring and found in May at our local site on the island of Fedje. Today this bird was once more sitting in Anza eating the fish remains from the fish factory in Anza. Hopefully tomorrow will give us even more readings. We end this post with some pictures.

T.4 probably from The Netherlands

JH9N ringed by Morten fuscus Helberg in Mandal this summer.

V4TC ringed by Pedersen in Denmark

Some are more colour full than others like this one, E and F85

1U9:C the ringing country is unknown for us

Finally arrived in Anza

After 16 hours of travel from Bergen via Oslo to Marrakesh and the two hours drive over the High Atlas to Agadir we finally arrived in Anza, Agadir. Here we could enjoy thousands of gulls. We arrived 30 minutes before sunset and could see the huge swarms of gulls over the fishing port. When we arrived in Anza we estimated the number to be between 10.000 - 15.000 gulls, impressive! We put up the telescopes and it did not take long before we had the first ringed Lesser Black-backed gull (Larus fuscus). It was a white ring probably ringed in France. After it became to dark and we had to drive back to Agadir. Now we are really looking forward what tomorrow can bring.