adult: July

 

Last update of this page: 25-07-05 18:22

By July, most adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls are very busy feeding the now fledged young. By mid-July large flocks of 100's of 1cy birds leave the colonies simultaneously and gather on the sandy beaches. The adults keep on feeding the 1cy birds on these beaches, often until the end of the month. 
The moult score on adult LBBG may be influenced by the energy and effort which is put in the feeding of chicks. In the colony, we try to score primary and wing-covert moult in relation with number of eggs or fledged chicks. Year 2002 we didn't collect enough data on this subject. However, we can represent figures of primary moult in adult LBBG which still have a strong bond with the colony. They arrive at a nearby sandy beach to drink, wash and preen quickly, leaving again within 10 minutes to fly back into the colony. Primary moult score is presented in the next table.

 

Tables

 

Primary moult score of adult LBBG at Maasvlakte, the Netherlands, July.
  Missouriweg 13.07.02 Dintelhaven 14.07.02
0 missing:  34 62
P1 missing:  27 39
P2 missing:  14 18(1)
P3 missing:  2 2
P4 missing:  0 0
n:  77 121
(1): Five birds had P2 missing and P1 growing.
Missouriweg: aggregate score from location Nachtegalenkeet & Missouriweg - Maasvlakte, the Netherlands (51.57N,04.03E).
Dintelhaven: score from
location Dintelhaven - Maasvlakte, the Netherlands (51.57N,04.03E). See Maasvlakte map.

 

Some details about colour rings (CRs)

 

Late June, early July are the weeks to catch pulls and colour ring them. This has been done for years now at Maasvlakte, the Netherlands and most images show ringed adults from these projects. Ring projects are going on for decades already and in Vest-Agder, S Norway, over 60.000 LBBGs have been ringed throughout the years. From 1995 on, blue colour ringed LBBGs from Scandinavia turn up. Some details:

 

species: intermedius intermedius intermedius fuscus fuscus
age: 1cy 5cy+ Pull 1cy Pull
total: 1 81 4390 1 10
<>          
1985     2    
1986     1    
1988          
1989     1    
1991     4    
1993     1    
1995     84    
1996     117    
1997     726    
1998     439    
1999   19 843    
2000 1 3 454 1 10
2001   59 1718    

 

At Westkapelle, the Netherlands (see distribution), LBBGs can be found well into November. Readings of (metal) ringed LBBGs revealed some originate  from Denmark, some from Sweden and some from S Norway. Although local Dutch individuals may occur as well, bulk of the present LBBGs in November are probably Scandinavian birds. Large colonies can be found in Vest Agder (S Norway) and this is the most northern colony from which ringed Scandinavian birds occur in the Netherlands. 

But though they may be seen in NW Europe well into November, others (from the same colony) proved to be more adventurous. For instance this known long distance migrant, much in line with Finnish colour-ringed LBBG fuscus. It's a 1cy LBBG X, metal ringed Stavanger 472418 date July 5 1984 at Rauna, Farsund, Vest-Agder, Norway 58.03N 06.40E and shot October 18 1984 in Owando, Kongo 00.27S 15.44E, 6553 km to the south 3 months and 13 days later.
Colour-ringed birds from the Maasvlakte have been reported to migrate over long distances as well: they were seen at interesting location e.g. USA and Finland.

In the Ring Recovery Section, we try to plot the races of Larus fuscus to give more detials on the various migration routes.

Photo 1: adult LBBG P, July 7 2001, IJmuiden, the Netherlands. Ringed at IJmuiden, white left double black top and red right P.
Photo 2: adult LBBG's, July 7 2001, IJmuiden, the Netherlands. Ringed at IJmuiden.

 

Photo 3: adult LBBG, July 7 2001, IJmuiden, the Netherlands.
5293.jpg (75893 bytes)Photo 4: adult LBBG T, July 7 2001, IJmuiden, the Netherlands. Ringed at IJmuiden, white left triple black bar and red right T.
2407n129.jpg (56792 bytes) adult LBBG N129, July 14 2002, Papegaaienbek, Maasvlakte, the Netherlands.
2433arnhem.jpg (52667 bytes) adult LBBG 5.331.913, July 14 2002, Papegaaienbek, Maasvlakte, the Netherlands.
2279.jpg (48429 bytes) adult LBBG 5.293.8??, July 14 2002, Dintelhaven, Maasvlakte, the Netherlands. P1 and P2 have been shed.
adult LBBG in June, ringed in the Netherlands. (70789 bytes)9cy LBBG EM30, July 13 2004, Missouriweg, Maasvlakte, the Netherlands. Ringed as pullus July 10 1996.
2431as2.jpg (60528 bytes) adult 11cy LBBG AS2, July 14 2002, Papegaaienbek, Maasvlakte, the Netherlands. Ringed as pullus on June 20 1992.
5157.jpg (59991 bytes)adult 9cy LBBG EK3, July 6 2001, IJmuiden, the Netherlands. Ringed left green EK3 on June 21 1993 at Maasvlakte.
5156.jpg (31113 bytes)near adult 5cy LBBG PC7, July 6 2001, IJmuiden, the Netherlands. Ringed left green PC7 on July 01 1997 at Maasvlakte.
2287.jpg (75119 bytes) adult 6cy LBBG PP4, July 14 2002, Dintelhaven, Maasvlakte, the Netherlands. P1 is still present. Ringed as pullus on June 28 1997.
5313.jpg (49220 bytes)near adult 5cy LBBG SR6, July 7 2001, IJmuiden, the Netherlands. Ringed left green SR6 on July 01 1997 at Maasvlakte.
2276.jpg (36510 bytes) adult LBBG TV4, July 14 2002, Dintelhaven, Maasvlakte, the Netherlands. P1 is still present.
2290.jpg (37578 bytes) adult 8cy LBBG E495, July 14 2002, Dintelhaven, Maasvlakte, the Netherlands. Ringed as pullus on June 29 1995.
2272.jpg (91297 bytes) adult 6cy LBBG EAH9, July 14 2002, Dintelhaven, Maasvlakte, the Netherlands. P3 has been shed. Ringed as pullus on June 24 1997.