Wandering German larid

The WeBS count at Stithians Reservoir, Cornwall, at the weekend produced a rather interesting spring gull. A Lesser Black-backed Gull with colour ring Red HR21 had originally been ringed as a chick on the island of Nebel off the north coast of Germany in July 2010.

It was seen at Blaringhem, Pas de Calais, France, on 21st April 2011 before vacationing in sunny Cornwall. There are just 13 records of German-ringed Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the UK and this is only the third foreign-ringed Lesser Black-back to be found in Cornwall: the previous birds were from Spain and the Channel Islands.


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