YLG with ring from Slowakia

[WolfgangSchweighofer]

Hello,

yesterday I was in Steyr (northern central Austria) to read BHG rings in the medieval center of the town, where the clear alpine river Steyr has it´s mouth into river Enns.
BTW I had 4 read rings from CZ, SLK and HR, unfortunately3 rings from PL remained only partially read.

There are increaing numbers of large gulls in the center of the town, waiting obviously for larger amounts of food. One YLG had a metalring and after 2 hours I was able to read the ring: E0093 from Slowakia! I just received ringing data, it was ringed 2003 as pullus in Piestany, not at the basin where the ridibundus colonies are breeding, but in the town in the surrounding of the airport. So maybe the parents have been roof breeders.
The gull was paired with a strong male, so obviously a female. They were longcalling and landing on a roof.

Several other immature YLG´s and one HG (likely 4th winter) were also present in the mouth of that alpine river, very nice.

[michal rycak]

One YLG had a metalring and after 2 hours I was able to read the ring: E0093 from Slowakia!

Wolfgang congratulations for your patience
Nice set of photos.

Cheers,
Michal

[WolfgangSchweighofer]

Michal, I think I have to explain something
I did not try to read the ring for 2 hours. After a first short observation the bird was flying away, when I arrived with my telescope...
After 2 hours fortunately it returned, meanwhile I had a lot to do with the BHG rings. Then I had to wait a quarter of an hour until the bird was leaving the water. And then you have to waite that the bird turns around - every ringreader knows...
Finally the read was quite easy, although the inscription with 4 lines was very small. Thanks to my Austrian telescope

Regards
Wolfgang

[Theo Muusse]

Nice!
Given the huge bill (bigger to say the least its mate) I would have voted for the ringed bird being the male.

Theo

[WolfgangSchweighofer]

Today I have been in Steyr again. The pair was present too at the same place. I had also noticed that huge bill of the ringed bird, but he unringed one was built heavier. On the picture of today you can compare, the unringed has at least a longer head...

I had some troubles with a BHG with Stockholm ring. I worked an hour with that bird (patience indeed!), but could not see the last 2 digits. It would have been only my 2nd BHG with Stockholm ring, there are only 7 in the Austrian data base.
But the bird was most likely ringed in October 2002 at Malmö.

Wolfgang

[Ruud Altenburg]

Oh that would be something in Holland, a Slovakian YLG... Nice pictures indeed. Swedish BHGs are a different league though, they are among the commonest rings to be found in my part of Holland. And it's not hard to guess where they were ringed: of the 128 BHGs SVS rings I read, no less than 100 were ringed in the Pildammsparken, Malmö!

[WolfgangSchweighofer]

Oh that would be something in Holland, a Slovakian YLG...

Yes I think they are a rarity. Until this reading I didn´t know anything about breeding large gulls in CZ and SLK. According to the migration atlas of CZ and SLK (printed in 2008) there are some breeding sites and there is ringing acitivity, but there are no resightings from abroad up to 2008. Maybe this was the first one...
It seems there is poor knowledge what species really breeds in those countries - YLG or CG or both. I reported my bird as a YLG but have got a ringing report concerning "Larus cachinans". In Austria only YLG is known as a breeder so far.

All 7 Swedish BHG read in Austria so far are from Pilldammsparken too As I´m managing the Austrian ringfinding list for gulls I have noticed that already 2007 6406147 was read in Steyr by Eddie Fritze and 2 Austrian readers. I think it has been that bird. Life lists of such birds can be interesting, they sometimes change migration strategy. This was proven by a bird from F. Majoor, it changed some winters between Holland and Vienna. We have only a few birds ringed in Belgium, Holland and Sweden, only 1 from UK, no rings from Norway, Denmark for example.

Wolfgang

[WolfgangSchweighofer]

To come to an end with that BHG: Yesterday I have found it again, very comfortable this time
It was exactly that BHG which I had presumed, at least 10 years old. Would be interesting, where it´s alternative wintergrounds are?

[WolfgangSchweighofer]

Yesterday I found that pair of YLG returned from their unknown winter site. I´m quite sure that it is the ringed Slowakian female, characterized by it´s strong bill. And the male has this characteristic head shape.

Btw: Also news from that Stockholm ringed BHG, bad news. In February it was found in Wien with injured wing. It was taken in care by a station for raptors and owls.

[WolfgangSchweighofer]

Today first observtion of E0093 at Steyr/city this winter season.
I was able to picture open wing of that bird and his partner. The male has still growing p10 and a mirror on p9.
E0093 has no mirror on p9 and seems to lack black on p5. But the flightshot reveals a small dot on p5.
Wolfgang