• HOME PAGE
• Cove Bay News
• Cove Bay Community
• Online Shopping
• Cove Bay Blog
• Contact the Editor
• Houses For Sale
• Groomsport Village Assoc.
• Airlines and Ferrys
• Report a Fault
• Groomsport Photographs
• Groomsport Weather
• Free Classifieds
  

Copeland Bird Observatory

Album of Copeland Islands Photos

RING-BILLED GULL

THE FIRST BREEDING RECORD FOR NORTHERN IRELAND

The story began on the 25th April 2004 when Anthony McGeehan found an adult Ring-billed Gull at the Common Gull colony on Big Isle, Copeland Islands, Co. Down. The bird appeared to be holding territory. It, or another adult, was then seen again by Wilton Farrelly at the same location on the 8th May.

Fast forward events to February 2008 when Derek Charles was photographing a Black Brant near the pool at Millisle, Co. Down (within sight of the Copeland Islands!) when his attention was drawn to a gull flying with a couple of Herring Gulls around the pool. He identified it as an adult Ring-billed Gull and took a few photographs. It drifted off and Derek continued photographing the Black Brant.

Nothing more was thought of it until a few days later when he noticed from the pictures that the bird was ringed. This was a major event in itself and local birders were notified. Despite several more visits Derek didn’t see the gull again and that looked like being the end of the story.

But events took a major turn on the weekend of 22nd-23rd March when Richard Weyl found the gull again and spent hours chasing it around Millisle avoiding the hundreds of dog walkers, joggers and weekend visitors. What a sight that must have been, but amazingly he managed to read enough of the ring for the details to be submitted.

When details of ring number EG55164 came back the location the bird was ringed was not, as expected, Lake Ontario, but the nearby Copeland Islands! This threw everyone into a state of confusion for a moment or two. Luckily Richard had taken photographs of the gull and when matched with Derek’s it appears to be the same bird. Things began to get serious now.

Careful examination of the photographs seems to show a few features at odds with a pure Ring-billed Gull and it was suspected that it was a hybrid Ring-billed x Common hybrid.

The Copeland Bird Observatory was contacted next. Kerry Leonard and John Stewart have been managing the census and ringing studies on Big Copeland Island for the past 10 years. The details were checked again and there was no doubt that the bird had been ringed as a chick on Big Isle, Copeland Islands on 16th June 2004.

Derek Charles re-visited Millisle over the weekend of 12-13th April and took more photographs, which leave little doubt that the bird is a hybrid.

©D.Charles

Confirmation that the bird is a Ring-billed Gull x Common Gull hybrid means that a Ring-billed Gull bred on the Copeland Islands in the summer of 2004. This is the first confirmed breeding record for the UK and Ireland (and indeed, the Western Palaearctic, as far as we know). There is likelihood that there may be one or two other hybrids from the same nest in the general area.

Praise must go to Richard, for without his valiant effort on reading the ring, this fantastic breeding record may well have gone undetected. A close eye will be kept on the Common Gull colony this summer to see if this bird returns to breed or if there are any other surprises lurking out there!

This is a fantastic reward for everyone associated with the Copeland Bird Observatory and especially the ringers who have put in so much work over the years.

This is a joint announcement to members and friends of the Northern Ireland Birdwatchers’ Association and the Copeland Bird Observatory.

Derek Charles [ Derek@metsteel.co.uk ] will be happy to answer any further queries

Manx Shearwater

Island News

Unfortunately last weekend's planned big work weekend did not happen due to stiff SE winds on Friday evening and very strong SE winds on Saturday. Larryand Orla had to return home to Kildare after making the journey all that way up to here. It was very unfortunate and indeed very frustrating for all involved. The weather forecast for Saturday was correct but the Friday winds were not forecast until the last minute, literally. By missing the window of opportunity, it is not clear yet when all the capable people of talent and skill (Larry, Al and Patrick especially) in the fields of Solar technology can be got together again.

I have to admit I felt really depressed during Friday evening and all of Saturday. I realised what Jack Gray used to feel like when he failed to get on to the island at the hoped for time. Back in those early days, travelling to the island was much worse, due to the lack of radios, mobile phones, and even the difficulty of contacting everyone involved. Disrupted travelling is a constant problem for all visiting the observatory. It is most likely in March/April and September/October. Looking at the problem another way,
travelling to the island is more punctual and with less cancellations than many rail and airline companies!

Anyway Kerry, Pat and I finally got out on Sunday afternoon, which was when most of the work party were due to come off. Loading all the equipment and materials was a big job for so few, and we could not have managed without Patrick coming down to help load, and Philip helping to unload. Two very heavy storage batteries, a solar panel, a hired pallet truck, other sundry
items and 8 sections of a shed destined to become the new workshop/store were all brought out and most were lugged up to the buildings except for the shed. We ended up quite exhausted.

For most of the rest of Sunday and from 7am on Monday, thick sea fog rolled in. Hopes of arriving migrants were rewarded only by about 5 Greenland Wheatears, a Northern Willow Warbler of the race "acredula", 2 Chiffchaffs, 45 passing Swallows, a Swift, 10 Whimbrel and the first five Arctic Terns.
We were lucky to see anything, with visibility restricted to 50 yards mostly. At night, a lot of shearwaters were heard as we went to bed. At this time of the year, we do not handle them during the time of egg-laying.

The biggest ornithological event of the visit was Kerry's discovery by telescope of a pair of Mediterranean Gulls at the south end of Mew Island.
One was a full adult and the other a second year bird. They are in good breeding territory and we hope they proceed to have a nest.

The Herring Gull is an often overlooked bird, mainly because of familiarity and its former abundance. Its numbers have dropped very dramatically in Northern Ireland to the stage where the Copeland colonies are now the biggest in Northern Ireland. It is actually a very handsome bird.

There is still concern about the safety of the eggs on Big Copeland (and indeed possibly Mew Island). The EHS, RSPB, PSNI and CBO have discussed protection of the colonies and measures are being taken. News of this will probably be in the local media on Thursday evening.

There are hopeful signs of an ongoing transfer of Black-headed Gulls and Arctic Terns. The Mediterranean Gull pair seems also to a part of this trend. Mediterranean Gulls have bred successfully twice (and failed twice) on Big Copeland. Between 200 and 500 adult Black-headed Gulls are now regularly present on Mew Island and though the nests haven't been properly counted yet, it seems there are well over 100 nests already and nearly all on a cursory inspection have 3 eggs. The Mew Island Common Gull colony is now at least as big as the colony on the observatory, close to 20 pairs oneach. It will be another 3 weeks before all the Arctic Terns will have arrived and settled and then we will have a clear picture of whether they too are transferring to Mew Island. There were nearly 60 pairs last year. On Tuesday 6th, 150 Arctic Terns had already arrived on Big Copeland.

It is unlikely that travelling to the island will be disrupted by weather from now on, so do please consider coming out for a weekend soon. There are duty officers available for nearly every weekend between now and the end of June.

We are committed to breeding bird survey work on all three islands in the next few weeks. Help with this would be much appreciated by the few faithful counters who are often involved. If you haven't done this sort of thing before, come along and join in. You will soon be capable.

The first planned trip will be on Monday evening to Big Copeland. There shouldn't be a space problem but just to be sure, please let me know if you would like to come. Departure will be at 5.30pm, returning around 9pm. The weather is expected to be calm and dry. The main target species are Oystercatcher and Lapwing, but a count of all species except terns will be attempted. There should be time to search through the gull colonies for rarespecies, by telescope. Photographers need a licence for many of the breeding species, though with long lenses, it is possible to do photography withoutgoing close enough to disturb the birds.

If you wish to help with the breeding bird count, the trip will be free. However if you want to do a simple walk around, just savouring the atmosphere, and/or having a picnic, a donation of £5 per person to the observatory would be appreciated.

There will be another e-mail very soon with details of more short visits to the islands.

The planned day trip to the Observatory on 24th May has still plenty of places available. The day will consist of a full conducted tour and free time to walk around the west and north sides of the island. Suitable clothing and a packed lunch and drink will be necessary, and day visitors are asked to take all their left-overs and rubbish home. Depending on demand, another day trip may be arranged in June. The charge is £12 per adult and £8 per person under 17.

Neville McKee

Secretary: Neville McKee on mobile 07770368856 Website:http://www.cbo.org.uk/

Click on Dell Banner to Shop

FREE Delivery on everything at John Lewis!

Click on Banner to Shop