14th June Visit to Tern and Gull Rafts
A visit to Fishers Green was undertaken to ring Black-headed Gulls on the Friday evening. Due to some issues with raft fences we were only able to visit two of the rafts and ring a sample of gulls. Common Tern nests were checked and counted and this was a useful exercise.
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Black-headed Gull | 39 | 38 |
2nd July 2018 Final visit to the Tern Rafts
The final visit to the Tern rafts was made today with a small team of two going out in the small green boat to ring the final Terns and Gulls. Whilst out there we were able to fit colour rings to eight Black-headed Gulls that were only metal ringed from a previous session and also to ring 15 new Black-headed Gulls. We also ringed two new Common Terns during the visit. Only one dead bird was found on the rafts and this is excellent for the productivitiy clearly due to the really good weather.
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Black-headed Gull | 15 | 24 |
22nd June 2018 Visit to Rafts for Terns and Gulls
Common Tern Chick - Shaun Harvey
The final visit to 70 Acres this evening saw a final 25 Black-headed Gulls ringed along with 14 Common Terns. 14 new Black Headed Gulls were colour ringed along with two metal ringed birds from the last vist that were now big enough to take a colour ring. A good team executed the visit smoothly and ringed all birds quickly in the warm weather.
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Black-headed Gull | 25 | 16 |
Methods
The Southern Colour Ringing Group rings Black-headed Gull pulli (young in the nest) nesting on rafts at Fishers Green in the Lee Valley Regional Park.
In addition to a conventional BTO metal ring, we also fit colour rings (yellow with a black code starting with '2') which allows the birds to be relocated without needing to be recaptured. There are many more bird-watchers looking for colour-ringed birds, so this greatly improves our chances of understanding the movements of the birds from the Lee Valley breeding site.
If you see a bird with one of our colour rings, please use the submission form or send details (ring-code, date, location, species) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Ringing totals
2016 year totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Black-headed Gull | 96 | 96 |
2017 year totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Black-headed Gull | 69 | 69 |
2018 year totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Black-headed Gull | 120 | 108 |
2019 year totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Black-headed Gull | 39 | 38 |
Grand totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Black-headed Gull | 371 | 358 |