North Thames Gull GroupStudying the Gulls of Essex Landfill Tips

Pitsea - 28/01/2012: A great day. What looked like a difficult set turned out to be fine as there was little lorry movement and firing towards the road was not a problem. Two catches and the first in the bag for Dave Dutton. Very little of interest on the tip but the final total of 421 birds and 90 large gulls color ringed.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	60	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	218	2	1	58
Great Black-backed Gull	27	0	0	26
Catch totals	306	2	1	85

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	36	0	0	0
Herring Gull	70	0	0	0
Great Black-backed Gull	4	1	1	5
Catch totals	110	1	1	5

Trip totals	416	3	2	90

Pitsea - 14/01/2012: The first session of 2012 was rather difficult. Birds were very jumpy and did not want to settle. Safety issues and a single Great Black-backed Gull caused problems once the air traffic had cleared and severl lifts of all the birds meant a frustrating couple of hours wait before a catch could be taken. Fantastic work by the compactor drivers also secured a catch and without their hard work we would have drawn our first blank. Final total of 276 was very good given the circumstances.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	68	2	1	0
Common Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	187	1	2	97
Great Black-backed Gull	14	0	0	14
Catch totals	270	3	3	112

Rainham - 17/12/2011: A fantastic way to end the year with a really nice catch of 260 birds of which again only 7 were Black-headed. We appear to have lost the ability to catch this species but with 129 large gulls colour ringed the value of the catch was fantastic. Mostly Herring Gulls and the wet conditions making a few birds a little dirty gave some interesing ID issues! However, KHD did well to pick out another Caspian much to the delight of BW. Two Yellow-legs and a nice sample of 25 Great Black-backs is an excellent total for Rainham. A really good team effort with a tricky shower in the middle of processing and again great work from the tip staff saw an excellent end to 2011.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	7	0	0	0
Yellow-legged Gull	2	0	0	2
Caspian Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	222	2	1	102
Great Black-backed Gull	25	0	0	25
Catch totals	257	2	1	130

Pitsea - 03/12/2011: After calling the day off then back on again we arrived at a windy but dry tip. Setting position was good and there were lots of birds on the tip, lots and lots and lots of big gulls. After a late start due to the threat of rain a first catch was soon in the bag. Our first catch of over 100 Great Black-backed Gulls in one catch. We processed the birds then set for a second attempt. After a quick roll from the compactor driver we had good numbers of large gulls in the catching area again. Once fired and processed another sixty plus Great Black-backs was just incredible. A really good day with 476 in total of which only 19 were Black-headed Gulls.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	7	0	0	0
Herring Gull	122	2	1	72
Great Black-backed Gull	101	0	1	68
Catch totals	230	2	2	140

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	12	0	0	0
Herring Gull	162	1	0	0
Great Black-backed Gull	66	0	1	0
Catch totals	240	1	1	0

Trip totals	470	3	3	140

Pitsea - 19/11/2011: A good day in all. Warm weather still hampers the will of birds to feed on refuse and with few lorries with much food coming in not as simple as usual. However, some excellent persistence from the compactor drivers enabled two catches to be taken with a total of just over 400 birds being excellent considering the conditions. Large numbers of Herring Gulls have now arrived at Pitsea and there were clearly some Northern birds in with them

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	22	1	0	0
Common Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	139	1	1	32
Catch totals	162	2	1	33

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	80	0	2	0
Common Gull	2	0	0	2
Lesser Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	150	2	1	0
Catch totals	233	2	3	3

Trip totals	395	4	4	36

Rainham - 12/11/2011: The very mild weather meant birds did not seem particularly hungry. Also a lack of vehicles coming on to the tip meant there were not many birds around. A good set and a nice load of waste flattened for us soon had a reasonable number of birds down. After a few lifts and some safety issues a catch was taken. We re set but birds did not come back down in time to take a second catch. However, the day was good with 65 large gulls colour ringed including another Yellow-legged Gull.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	147	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	6	0	0	6
Yellow-legged Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	57	1	0	58
Catch totals	211	1	0	65

Rainham - 22/10/2011: Another excellent day with good weather conducive to taking a nice catch of large birds. The set was a bit tricky with a 360 digger slightly in the way of where we wanted to fire so re angling with the wind just in the wrong place was a bit of a worry. However, once the waste had been rolled flat lots of birds came down very quickly, too many in fact! We needed a lift and soon got one. Birds still wanted to feed and very soon about 200 birds were back in the catching area and before long a safe window allowed a catch to be taken. A good extract and lift with a fairly inexperienced team and we processed the birds away from the tip face. One surprise was half way through processing to pull out another Caspian Gull. Also in the end five Yellow-legs were sifted from the Herring Gulls. The final total was 211.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Lesser Black-backed Gull	13	0	0	13
Yellow-legged Gull	5	0	0	5
Caspian Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	189	1	1	43
Great Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Catch totals	209	1	1	63

Rainham - 15/10/2011: A calm clear morning looked promising, however birds did not seem that interested in feeding. A second load of waste attracted what was probably somewhere in the region of 500 large gulls into the catching area. Luckily there were real safety problems and I was unable to fire which was probably good for this small and inexperienced team. Baz and myself elected to put up a jiggler when all the birds lifted. It then took some time for them to get interested again but no matter! With birds walking in from the back of the catching area safety was good and we soon had enough birds in the area to take what I thought to be about 120. Clearly my estimation is legendary and the total ended up at 202 birds! Excellent work by Mark the compactor driver again he is now becoming more of an expert than us!

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	43	1	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	96	2	2	98
Yellow-legged Gull	11	0	0	11
Caspian Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	44	2	0	0
Catch totals	195	5	2	110

Rainham - 27/08/2011: It is always interesting at this time of year and today was no exception. A small team arrived with the hope of something interesting at this time of year and we were not disappointed. Early on lots of Starlings looked like causing a problem until a Sparrowhawk spooked them all. With a good number of birds and almost certainly two Yellow-legged Gulls in the catching area I elected to fire. The catch was extracted, bagged and processed quickly and efficiently and we were pleased to find six Yellow-legs in the catch of 60 birds.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Lesser Black-backed Gull	10	0	1	11
Yellow-legged Gull	6	0	0	6
Herring Gull	42	0	0	11
Great Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Catch totals	59	0	1	29

Pitsea - 08/06/2011: Today we undertook a session at Pitsea specially for a filming session with Springwatch. The Springwatch team were looking at different types of wildlife that use landfill sites and wanted to film what the group does and talk about what the gulls using the site do. We were lucky enough to take a small catch of just enough birds to show the film crew a range of species and features for their filming. We were also amazed to find that there were around 30 Med Gulls on site and even more pleased when we managed to catch four in our small catch specifically for the film crew. This was a very interesting time to see what happens on the tip and has opened up lots of questions about where these birds are breeding and coming from at this time of year. It is likely that we will be considering some more attempts at Pitsea over the next couple of months to see if we can catch more Med Gulls.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Mediterranean Gull	4	0	0	4
Black-headed Gull	25	0	1	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	5	0	0	5
Herring Gull	3	0	0	3
Catch totals	37	0	1	12

Rainham - 21/03/2011: With Luka from Croatia still in the UK an extra session on the Monday was planned with high hopes of increasing the numbers for the season. Best laid plans and all that!! The birds did not want to play. We suspect the warm weather ensured their minds were on things other than feeding! There was no real interest for three hours until a concerted effort from the compactor driver got a few birds in the catching area. With the weather warm and little else looking positive we took a very small token catch for something to do!! However out of the 26 birds we managed one Black-headed Gull from Latvia and a British control Lesser Black-backed Gull, not a bad ratio for such a small catch.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	16	0	1	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	7	0	1	8
Herring Gull	1	0	0	1
Catch totals	24	0	2	9

Pitsea - 19/03/2011: A very good day with a slightly difficult start. Frosty conditions and a big team agian looked promising for a big total. However, a difficult set on the edge of the road and lots of disturbance meant we were not able to take a catch until 10:30. The sun had then got up and the temperature was too warm to enable us to set for a second time. We also had to process birds as fast as possible to stop any overheating problems, however all in all a successful day.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	287	2	1	0
Common Gull	8	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	26	0	0	25
Yellow-legged Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	41	0	0	41
Catch totals	363	2	1	67

Rainham - 12/03/2011: An extra trip was put in today with a small and inexperienced team. Conditions were good and the set we were given was today excellent. Two loads of good transfer waste were also supplied and within ten minutes of the compactor coming off the rubbish a catch had been taken. Extraction and processing was good and the day total was very pleasing with 33 LBB Gulls colour ringed. Other highlights were a Black-headed Gull which was re-ringed which on checking turned out to be one of our birds from 1984. This bird was ringed 27 years and 22 days ago! The UK longevity record is currently 27 years 10 months 17 days so we need to retrap this bird next year again!! A good day and many thanks to the tip staff once again for their excellent assistance.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	145	1	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	31	0	2	33
Herring Gull	49	1	0	48
Catch totals	225	2	2	81

Pitsea - 05/03/2011: With the weather looking good and a large team assembled for Pitsea there were high hopes of a big day! However on arrival the waste coming into the site was clearly not the best. The set we were given was also not one of the best and to start with I was not happy that we would even take a catch. However, the compactor driver Alan helped us out and was actually fantastic in getting a little bit of food in front of the net which soon had a reasonable number of birds down. A very early opportunity presented itself and a respectable catch of 288 was taken. We decided to re-set and see what happened. After some further work by Alan, birds came back on to feed and there were three Mediterranean Gulls playing around the edge of the catching area. Eventually we got two in the catching area and elected to fire, managing to get both one being a Dutch control. Other highlights were a Danish Black-headed Gull and three of our own colour ringed Herring Gulls one of which had been to Gloucester and one to France. Overall a good day with a total of 409 and 82 large gulls colour ringed was a real success given the conditions of the tip and our set.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	238	1	1	0
Common Gull	1	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	10	0	0	10
Herring Gull	36	1	0	36
Catch totals	285	2	1	46

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Mediterranean Gull	1	0	1	2
Black-headed Gull	81	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	35	2	0	35
Catch totals	118	2	1	38

Trip totals	403	4	2	84

Pitsea - 05/02/2011: The weather suggested that another "planned" trip would not happen. However, sometimes perseverance is the order of the day. On arrival at the tip the set location had a tiny bit of shelter (well sort of!). I decided to set and see what happened. We waited for some time before birds settled enough to enable a catch, we had also decided to be as selective as possible. Given there were a good number of Great Black-backed Gulls in the catching area it was worth an attempt. It turned out to be well worth the attempt with 44 new GBB caught and a very respectable total of 119 new birds, 3 retraps and a Norwegian control. Next planned trip will be Rainham on 19th February.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	55	1	0	0
Herring Gull	20	0	0	20
Great Black-backed Gull	44	1	1	44
Catch totals	119	2	1	64

Rainham - 29/01/2011: A small but experienced team undertook an extra session at Rainham due to the poor weather at the beginning of January. The set was quick and efficient and with no problems and a good load of waste we had a catch in the bag by 08:45am. It turned out to be a very good one of 404 new birds and 7 controls/retraps. Highlights were 2 Yellow-legged Gulls, 19 GBB and 39 LBB colour ringed plus 231 Herring Gulls ringed. Many thanks to all the team for a smooth and well executed day of large gulls and also to the tip staff and compactor drivers who once again did an excellent job.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	110	0	0	0
Common Gull	5	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	38	0	1	39
Yellow-legged Gull	2	0	0	2
Herring Gull	230	3	3	31
Great Black-backed Gull	19	0	0	19
Catch totals	404	3	4	91

Pitsea - 22/01/2011: A tricky day with enough wind to keep birds hanging in the air making a catch difficult. Foxes also played havoc early on spooking birds several times. After some persistence and very helpful compactor drivers two catches were able to be taken with a grand total of 599 birds for the day including retraps and controls. Highlights were 23 new Great Black-backed Gulls and controls from Norway, Finland, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania and Germany. Thanks to all team members for a very smooth day and a good total for January.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	348	2	4	0
Common Gull	1	0	0	0
Herring Gull	19	0	0	18
Catch totals	368	2	4	18

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	142	2	1	0
Herring Gull	56	0	0	55
Great Black-backed Gull	23	0	1	23
Catch totals	221	2	2	78

Trip totals	589	4	6	96

Rainham - 18/12/2010: A small team decided to make one last attempt at Rainham for 2010. There was a threat of snow but it was unclear when it would arrive. We decided to try to take a 150 catch with the small net. However, the rubbish was superb and the birds hungry. Very quickly we had well over 400 birds in the catching area. Luckily there was just too much air traffic and safety issues. Eventually a lorry in the main tip drew a few birds away and we were left with about 200 and when a safe window was available a catch was taken. The catch was extracted and processed very efficiently and the last Lesser Black-backed Gull was ringed as the first snow flakes fell. It was an interesting trip back round the M25!! Final total for the day was 231 which is excellent, with 103 birds colour ringed including 34 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	118	2	1	0
Common Gull	5	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	33	0	1	34
Herring Gull	67	0	2	67
Great Black-backed Gull	2	0	0	2
Catch totals	225	2	4	103

Rainham - 11/12/2010: At last we managed to get onto Rainham. A near perfect day with good weather an excellent setting position, good loads of waste dumped and excellent co operation from the tip staff. Mark the compactor driver did a fantastic job of getting birds down and two excellent catches were taken. The highlights being an adult Yellow-legged Gull and 56 Lesser Black-backed Gulls colour ringed. Thanks to all on the team and the tip staff.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	126	0	2	0
Common Gull	1	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	32	0	1	33
Herring Gull	113	0	2	107
Great Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	0
Catch totals	273	0	5	140

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	84	0	0	0
Common Gull	4	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	22	0	1	23
Yellow-legged Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	55	1	0	0
Great Black-backed Gull	4	0	0	4
Catch totals	170	1	1	28

Trip totals	443	1	6	168

Pitsea - 20/11/2010: Well the ghost of Manton finally visited the tip! A flat battery on the truck at 06:30 did not bode well as a start. On arrival we were unfortunate again to be given a spot right on the edge of the tip and on the wrong side of the wind. Although the wind was light we were forced to set firing into the wind which always means we loose birds. However, the set was quick and efficient but on going to move the truck to the firing point another flat battery! Alan the compactor driver towed me to the firing point and I elected to attempt a catch before getting the truck started. After some tense moments we managed to take a first catch of 157 birds. We re-set and when nearly complete with the first catch it looked promising - apart from the fact we had not connected the last cannon! This turned out to be fortunate as when we were all set the second catch included a Mediterranean Gull. So the overall day total of 239 was very good given the circumstances!!

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	117	3	0	0
Common Gull	1	0	0	0
Herring Gull	34	0	0	34
Great Black-backed Gull	2	0	0	2
Catch totals	154	3	0	36

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Mediterranean Gull	1	0	0	1
Black-headed Gull	68	0	0	0
Common Gull	1	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	3	0	0	3
Herring Gull	8	0	1	8
Catch totals	81	0	1	12

Trip totals	235	3	1	48

Pitsea - 06/11/2010: Warm weather again meant lots of birds on fields and not that many on the tip. A difficult set we were forced to set firing into the wind and with the small net so our options were not good to start. Lots of safety issues prevented us firing when there were lots of birds in the catching area and in the end we had to settle for two small catches when there was a safe window. A respectable total of 210 for the day. However, the highlight was Steve Arlow photographing a possible adult Thayers Gull. We await other experts to look at this bird but what I saw of it on Steve's camera all the features looked very good.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	89	1	1	0
Common Gull	1	0	0	0
Herring Gull	16	0	0	16
Great Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Catch totals	107	1	1	17

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	78	1	0	0
Common Gull	1	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	20	0	0	19
Catch totals	100	1	0	20

Trip totals	207	2	1	37

Pitsea - 30/10/2010: It turned out to be the correct decision to go to Pitsea. A really nice setting position right next to the commercial tip. The tip team again were very helpfull finding us the best lorry they could and keeping trying with the compactor to get birds down. The effort resulted in two good catches, the second one taken by Jez Blackburn as part of his training.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	115	3	1	0
Herring Gull	75	0	0	75
Great Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Catch totals	191	3	1	76

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	18	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	52	0	0	52
Great Black-backed Gull	13	0	0	13
Catch totals	84	0	0	66

Trip totals	275	3	1	142

Pitsea - 25/09/2010: Weather conditions today were rather windy and I was not confident that it was going to be easy to take a catch. On arrival things got worse with our location being very restricted and next to the road the artics were using. We had one small load of household waste which was put in front of the small net we had set. For a couple of hours there were just no birds and we were getting concerned this was going to be our first blank. However, at about 10am birds appeared and three artics that dropped waste on the main tip seemed to get birds on the feed. After about half an hour we also had birds near our waste. Eventually they found the waste in front of the net. We had to wait a little while for birds to settle down as the wind was keeping them in the air a lot. The opportunity of the first clear window was taken and a respectable catch of 119 birds resulted.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	5	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	3	0	0	3
Herring Gull	94	1	1	95
Great Black-backed Gull	15	0	0	15
Catch totals	117	1	1	113

Pitsea - 27/03/2010: A day with few gulls on site, so clearly many had moved back out to their breeding grounds in the last few weeks. With the threat of showers we took a quick early catch of only Black-headed Gulls and re-set to see what the weather did. We were lucky enough for it to hold off and a small second catch was possible. A few Mediterranean Gulls were seen but none in the catching area.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Mediterranean Gull	0	0	0	0
Black-headed Gull	151	4	1	0
Common Gull	0	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	0	0	0	0
Yellow-legged Gull	0	0	0	0
Caspian Gull	0	0	0	0
Herring Gull	0	0	0	0
Great Black-backed Gull	0	0	0	0
Catch totals	151	4	1	0

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	74	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	4	0	0	4
Herring Gull	31	1	0	31
Great Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Catch totals	110	1	0	36

Trip totals	261	5	1	36

Pitsea - 06/03/2010: A large team went to Pitsea today and we were lucky to get a really good load of waste from the first dustcart in. Birds were quickly down but the compactor driver running over the cable meant the spare cable had to be deployed. Luckily there was lots of food and an excellent catch of 449 birds was soon in the bag. We elected to re-set for a second attempt and after a couple of hours with a single Mediterranean Gull in the catching area we took a second catch. It was still early so we re-set for a third attempt but ended up with too many birds in the catching area so did not fire. The day total ended up at 722 new birds. Highlights were also a control Common Gull from Finland and a Black-headed Gull from Denmark.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	305	2	0	0
Common Gull	8	0	1	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	33	0	0	33
Herring Gull	98	1	0	64
Great Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Catch totals	445	3	1	98

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Mediterranean Gull	1	0	0	1
Black-headed Gull	174	0	1	0
Common Gull	1	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	27	0	0	26
Herring Gull	73	1	0	1
Great Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Catch totals	277	1	1	29

Trip totals	722	4	2	127

Pitsea - 20/02/2010: A day that started with the threat of rain and snow turned out fine and we were able to take two really nice catches. A large catch of small gulls first with a splattering of other gulls. The second catch was very respectable but the best thing was the groups second Caspian Gull.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	441	0	3	0
Common Gull	5	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	8	0	2	9
Herring Gull	12	0	0	3
Catch totals	466	0	5	12

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	185	0	3	0
Caspian Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	92	1	2	48
Catch totals	278	1	5	49

Trip totals	744	1	10	61

Pitsea - 06/02/2010: Yet another tough day with problems before getting to the tip with the head gasket going on the Land Rover on Thursday! Alternative arrangements were made to get the kit to the tip and a session looked possible. The set was OK apart from the fact we had to run the cable accross the road with arctics and compactors running over it. We got the rubbish rolled at first break and we had taken a catch within ten minutes. This was a good catch of 300 plus birds and we should have been happy. However, we re-set and tried for a second catch - with at least one Mediterranean Gull in the catching area - but the firing cable had been damaged making it impossible to fire. All in all a good day.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	184	1	2	0
Common Gull	3	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	9	0	0	9
Herring Gull	108	1	2	52
Great Black-backed Gull	12	2	0	13
Catch totals	316	4	4	74

Pitsea - 23/01/2010: A tricky day with mild weather, fox and Starling problems making taking a catch very difficult. Excellent perseverance from the compactor drivers allowed us to take a catch of just over 100 birds. A quick re-set attracted birds including over 1000 Starlings, which we just could not fire on. However, 76 birds were colour ringed out of the catch and there was a Belgian control Herring Gull.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	34	0	0	0
Herring Gull	50	0	1	50
Great Black-backed Gull	26	0	0	26
Catch totals	110	0	1	76

Pitsea - 09/01/2010: A really good start to 2010 after a poor first half to the winter. The tip was full of birds and due to the cold conditions they were hungry. At first there were too many birds and safety was a problem. However, after about half an hour birds settled down and we were able to take a catch. We did not realise quite how big it was until we ran out of sacks with about 20 Herring Gulls still under the net. We ringed these birds direct from the net and took everything else off the tip and into the workshop to process. After processing we were really pleased with the number of big gulls in the catch.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	27	0	0	0
Common Gull	2	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	5	0	0	5
Yellow-legged Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	235	3	3	53
Great Black-backed Gull	55	0	0	55
Catch totals	325	3	3	114

Pitsea - 12/12/2009: A very quick and efficient set by an experienced team saw us set by 8am adjacent to two loads of rubbish that had been dumped the previous day. Birds were quickly down when the compactor flattened the rubbish and after a couple of lifts a catch of mainly Black-headed Gulls was taken with a few large gulls and a couple of Common Gulls mixed in. Although we reset to attempt a second, catch birds did not come back onto our waste and showers eventually forced us to pack up without a second catch.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	275	0	4	0
Common Gull	2	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	2	0	0	2
Herring Gull	8	0	0	8
Catch totals	287	0	4	10

Pitsea - 21/11/2009: After cancelling last Saturday due to weather, we elected to attempt a catch today as weather forecasts are not looking good for the next month. With a quick early set we were in position by 8am. Lots of birds came down but were spooked and we then had a long wait. Eventually a dust cart came in and although there was not a lot of food waste, it had enough to attract the gulls and after some excellent persistence by the compactor driver we were able to take a good catch of 219 birds.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	52	0	1	0
Herring Gull	151	0	2	102
Great Black-backed Gull	13	0	0	13
Catch totals	216	0	3	115

Pitsea - 31/10/2009: A small team arrived to difficult looking weather conditions. Although not raining on arrival, rain looked possible but it was unclear just when it would arrive. We elected to set and see what happened. Birds came down quickly on the first push of rubbish but there were two chairs in the wrong place that would have snagged the net. Birds took a while to settle again and only through the persistence of the compactor driver were we able to get them back. Due to the threat of rain a small catch was taken and quickly got under cover to process. One Lithuanian Black-headed Gull was the highlight.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	25	0	1	0
Herring Gull	42	0	1	40
Great Black-backed Gull	3	0	0	3
Catch totals	70	0	2	43

Pitsea - 17/10/2009: A good day at Pitsea today. Lots of Herring Gulls and good numbers of Great Black-backs on the tip. Black-headed Gull numbers are starting to build up. One Mediterranean Gull was seen but there was nothing else unusual. With a good early set, birds were onto the rubbish quickly. After not wanting to settle to start with and the wind keeping birds in the air a chance opened up and a catch or mainly Herring Gulls was taken. The birds were dealt with efficiently and we were packing up by 12:30.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	24	0	0	0
Herring Gull	170	2	0	54
Great Black-backed Gull	22	2	0	23
Catch totals	216	4	0	77

Rainham - 12/09/2009: Again at Rainham, a small team set efficiently and birds were quickly down on the rubbish. Initial safety problems meant we had to wait about half an hour for a clear window to fire. However, when we did it was worth the wait with a record catch of 71 Lesser Black-backed and 8 Yellow-legged Gulls.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	1	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	69	0	2	71
Yellow-legged Gull	8	0	0	8
Herring Gull	46	1	0	20
Catch totals	124	1	2	99

Rainham - 29/08/2009: Today saw us back at Rainham for the first time since January 2008. On arrival it was clear that the predominant species was Lesser Black-backed Gull. A small but experienced team set quickly and efficiently. After a long and frustrating wait we eventually had enough birds down and a respectable catch of 77 was taken.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Lesser Black-backed Gull	56	0	1	57
Herring Gull	20	0	0	20
Catch totals	76	0	1	77

Pitsea - 21/03/2009: Today saw another visit for training from Jez Blackburn and some of his team from Norfolk. Three catches were taken today with Jez taking two of the three. Highlights were a Med Gull in the second catch. Also seen on the tip were Iceland, Glaucous, Yellow-legged and Caspian Gull all just outside the catching area! The total of 549 (including retraps and controls) was good and takes the winter total to over 4000 gulls.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	148	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	11	0	0	11
Herring Gull	101	0	1	0
Catch totals	260	0	1	11

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Mediterranean Gull	1	0	0	0
Black-headed Gull	100	0	2	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	9	0	0	9
Herring Gull	55	1	0	0
Catch totals	165	1	2	9

Catch 3

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	15	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	104	0	0	0
Catch totals	120	0	0	1

Trip totals	545	1	3	21

Pitsea - 07/03/2009: Still good numbers of gulls on the tip. With a very large team we elected for two catches. Aiming for 200 in each catch. Good numbers of Lessers were evident with 20 trapped including a Norwegian bird. The remainder of the Herring Gull colour rings were used for this winter on the first catch. A few colour ringed birds were sighted by Richard, Steve and Pete

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	101	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	9	0	0	9
Herring Gull	58	1	1	30
Great Black-backed Gull	3	0	0	0
Catch totals	171	1	1	39

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	124	1	2	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	10	0	1	11
Herring Gull	72	0	0	0
Catch totals	206	1	3	11

Trip totals	377	2	4	50

Pitsea - 14/02/2009: Today was a tricky day. Birds at first did not want to come on to feed on the rubbish. Phil the compactor driver did a fantastic job and when we got birds it was in abundance. Foxes then became a problem for a while but eventualy a half chance presented itself and a catch was taken.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Mediterranean Gull	2	0	0	0
Black-headed Gull	669	2	6	0
Common Gull	13	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	5	0	0	5
Herring Gull	63	0	0	19
Catch totals	752	2	6	24

Pitsea - 24/01/2009: A chilly start with no wind looked perfect. Gulls at first did not want to come to feed. After about an hour birds became interested and a catch was taken with good numbers of Great Black-backed Gulls. A Glaucous Gull was seen near the catching area on a couple of occasions but evaded capture.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	25	0	0	0
Herring Gull	155	2	0	19
Great Black-backed Gull	46	0	1	0
Catch totals	226	2	1	19

Pitsea - 10/01/2009: A very large team took two catches with a superb total of 587 birds from both catches, which included 9 Starlings. The small gulls were back in force apparently frozen out of thier normal sites after the prolonged cold spell. The highlight was a Polish ringed Med Gull and a retrap Black-headed Gull which was ringed nearly 17 years ago at Pitsea by Mr Harris.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Mediterranean Gull	0	0	1	0
Black-headed Gull	367	1	2	0
Common Gull	3	0	0	0
Herring Gull	23	0	1	0
Great Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	0
Catch totals	394	1	4	0

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	24	0	0	0
Common Gull	1	0	1	0
Herring Gull	140	0	1	54
Great Black-backed Gull	12	0	0	0
Catch totals	177	0	2	54

Trip totals	571	1	6	54

Pitsea - 27/12/2008: The tip was only open for the morning and with little domestic waste due to arrive, we were lucky to get a large load of mixed rubbish which was atttractive to the gulls. We managed a quick fire and just about got the catch processed in time.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	24	0	0	0
Lesser Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	0
Herring Gull	104	0	2	19
Great Black-backed Gull	59	0	1	0
Catch totals	188	0	3	19

Pitsea - 20/12/2008: After a week of mild weather we were concerned that the gulls would not be hungry enough to come onto the waste in the catching area. The breezy conditions allowed a lot of birds to hang in the air and for those on the ground to get easily spooked - but they were hungry. With each lift-off birds returned quickly and increasing numbers of large gulls stayed in the catching area. The resulting fire included our largest ever catch of Great Black-backed Gulls.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	19	0	0	-
Herring Gull	139	0	2	79
Great Black-backed Gull	69	3	2	14
Catch totals	227	3	4	93

Pitsea - 29/11/2008: Hoping for quick fire with the threat of rain, we were intially frustrated by the proximity of the catching area to the main tip face, with birds streaming in over the net. Eventually things settled and we were able to take a small catch.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	3	0	0	-
Herring Gull	73	0	0	73
Great Black-backed Gull	43	0	2	44
Catch totals	119	0	2	117

Pitsea - 15/11/2008: The arrangement of the tip face made it difficult to select a location for the net, and when we did efforts were frustrated by operational traffic on the tip. Eventually a reasonable catch was possible, with good numbers of Great Black-backed Gulls once again.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	7	0	0	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	177	5	0	57
Great Black-backed Gull	32	0	0	31
Catch totals	217	5	0	89

Pitsea - 01/11/2008: With rain forecast we elected for an early start. The gulls were clearly hungry and were soon onto the rubbish. After a frustrating 20 minutes with birds in danger, on and too close to the net, we were able to fire and took a catch of predominantly Herring Gulls. The rain started just as the pack-up was complete and the birds were ringed under cover off of the tip.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	10	0	0	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	1
Herring Gull	166	1	0	64
Great Black-backed Gull	6	0	0	6
Catch totals	183	1	0	71

Pitsea - 11/10/2008: Armed with our new colour rings, we were fortunate to get a couple of loads of rubbish containing a lot of food and birds were quickly attracted into the catching area. Many larger gulls walked in from beyond the range of the net. What was initially thought to be just over a hundred birds turned out to be a massive catch of mostly Herring Gulls.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	50	1	1	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	5	0	0	4
Herring Gull	316	3	3	183
Great Black-backed Gull	4	0	0	4
Catch totals	375	4	4	191

Pitsea - 13/09/2008: Uncertain what a September catch might bring we arrived to find most birds loafing on the fields to the north of the tip. What was initially though to be a small catch was taken but our new net deploys much faster and caught more birds on the edge of the catching area than expected. We reset for a second catch and after a long wait and some encouragement from the compactor driver stirring up the rubbish, we had around 600 birds in the catching area - too many to catch safely. Suddenly most of the smaller gulls lifted leaving the Great Black-backed Gulls on thr ground. We fired almost immediately for our second ever largest catch of this species.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Lesser Black-backed Gull	4	0	0	-
Yellow-legged Gull	1	0	0	-
Herring Gull	138	1	0	-
Great Black-backed Gull	4	0	0	-
Catch totals	147	1	0

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Herring Gull	30	0	0	-
Great Black-backed Gull	52	0	0	-
Catch totals	82	0	0

Trip totals	229	1	0	0

Pitsea - 08/08/2008: An excursion to Pitsea was undertaken as part of the Rye Meads ringing course, to give delegates some experience of gull ringing and fitting larger ring sizes. A small catch was taken.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	6	0	0	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	7	0	0	-
Yellow-legged Gull	1	0	0	-
Herring Gull	79	0	0	-
Great Black-backed Gull	2	0	1	-
Catch totals	95	0	1

Pitsea - 29/03/2008: Another quick and efficient set and rubbish with plenty of food waste brought the gull in quickly. We waited a little to increase the proportion of large gulls but took an early first catch. Attempts at a second catch were frustrated by vehicle movements on the tip and the proximity of the net to where driver were closing the rear doors on their lorries. With the possibility of rain a small second catch was taken.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	43	0	1	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	-
Yellow-legged Gull	1	0	0	-
Herring Gull	92	0	0	-
Great Black-backed Gull	13	0	0	-
Catch totals	150	0	1

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	33	0	0	-
Herring Gull	5	0	0	-
Great Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	-
Catch totals	39	0	0

Trip totals	189	0	1	0

Pitsea - 22/03/2008: Although it was raining with gusty winds on arrival at the tip, the forecast did predict a clearer spell in mid-morning, so we sat it out. When we could see the clearer weather arriving we set quickly and had several opportunities to fire, were it not for the Starlings all over the furled net. Eventually we were able to fire safely and removed the gulls to the relative comfort of the shed off of the tip.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	12	0	0	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	3	0	0	-
Yellow-legged Gull	4	0	0	-
Herring Gull	112	0	0	-
Great Black-backed Gull	12	0	0	-
Catch totals	143	0	0

Pitsea - 15/03/2008: Buoyed up by our success on 23rd February, we were keen to return to Pitsea, but the weather forecast was not good. The first load of rubbish contained very little food and birds were moving on quickly, with the larger gulls hardly stopping. Concerned that the weather might curtail operations, we took a small token catch of mainly Black-headed Gulls. But is was still early so we reset and did get a much better load of rubbish delivered. The birds still did not seem keen to settle and after a wait were able to take a modest second catch.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	41	0	1	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	-
Herring Gull	1	0	0	-
Catch totals	43	0	1

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	87	0	1	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	6	0	0	-
Herring Gull	26	0	0	-
Great Black-backed Gull	2	0	0	-
Catch totals	121	0	1

Trip totals	164	0	2	0

Pitsea - 23/02/2008: This was our first attempt at Pitsea for over 10 years. It was an easy set but we couldn't understand why the birds didn't want seem to want to settle, until we realised that there was a fox in the catching area. Once chased off (no easy feat) birds came back in force and a sizeable catch followed quickly. We decided to reset, but were delayed from firing again until we had emptied enough sacks from the first catch. At this time up to three Mediterranean Gulls were in the catching area, but by the time we were able to fire only one remained and was successfully caught.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	145	1	1	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	3	0	0	-
Yellow-legged Gull	2	0	0	-
Herring Gull	138	0	1	-
Great Black-backed Gull	4	0	0	-
Catch totals	292	1	2

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Mediterranean Gull	1	0	0	-
Black-headed Gull	98	0	0	-
Herring Gull	27	0	0	-
Great Black-backed Gull	2	0	0	-
Catch totals	128	0	0

Trip totals	420	1	2	0

Rainham - 05/01/2008: An early start meant setting the net in the half-light. Too any birds and problems with lorries stopping in the firing line were eventaully overcome and an early catch of large gulls was taken. After resetting it was difficult to get birds to settle in tha catching area, so the second catch was mainly of Black-headed Gulls.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	88	0	0	-
Common Gull	3	0	0	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	12	0	0	-
Herring Gull	68	0	1	-
Great Black-backed Gull	2	0	0	-
Catch totals	173	0	1

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	122	0	1	-
Common Gull	1	0	0	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	3	0	0	-
Herring Gull	13	0	0	-
Great Black-backed Gull	2	0	0	-
Catch totals	141	0	1

Trip totals	314	0	2	0

Rainham - 27/12/2007: With the tip having been closed over the Christmas break expectations were high that the gulls would be hungry and easy to catch. Once we had the rubbish in th right place a catch was taken relatively quickly.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	101	0	1	-
Common Gull	5	0	0	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	31	0	2	-
Yellow-legged Gull	1	0	0	-
Herring Gull	35	0	1	-
Great Black-backed Gull	3	0	0	-
Catch totals	176	0	4

Rainham - 15/12/2007: A difficult set right on the edge of the tip, but once ready the gulls came into the catching area very quickly and we soon took a first catch. For the second catch we wanted to wait for more large gulls and with the wind picking up birds were hanging in the air making it difficult to find a catching window. Eventually we did take a second catch that included a good number of Herring Gulls.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	123	0	3	-
Common Gull	1	0	0	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	28	0	0	-
Herring Gull	50	0	0	-
Great Black-backed Gull	1	0	0	-
Catch totals	203	0	3

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	62	0	1	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	7	0	0	-
Yellow-legged Gull	2	0	0	-
Herring Gull	57	0	1	-
Great Black-backed Gull	2	0	0	-
Catch totals	130	0	2

Trip totals	333	0	5	0

Rainham - 11/11/2007: A quick set with catching opportunities only thwarted by Starlings walking all over the net. The resulting catch included our first Caspian Gull.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	58	0	1	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	30	0	0	-
Yellow-legged Gull	4	0	0	-
Caspian Gull	1	0	0	-
Herring Gull	64	0	0	-
Catch totals	157	0	1

Rainham - 27/10/2007: Two modest catches with good numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Catch 1

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	72	0	2	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	40	0	2	-
Yellow-legged Gull	1	0	0	-
Herring Gull	14	0	0	-
Catch totals	127	0	4

Catch 2

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	51	0	0	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	61	0	0	-
Yellow-legged Gull	1	0	0	-
Herring Gull	13	0	0	-
Catch totals	126	0	0

Trip totals	253	0	4	0

Rainham - 31/03/2007: The first trip of the re-formed North Thames Gull Group, returning to Rainham for the first time since 2004. The catch was exclusively of large gulls our primary target.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Lesser Black-backed Gull	34	0	0	-
Yellow-legged Gull	1	0	0	-
Herring Gull	28	0	0	-
Catch totals	63	0	0

Westmill - 06/03/2004: A small catch, as we learn how best to utilise this site.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	87	0	0	-
Common Gull	3	0	0	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	9	0	0	-
Herring Gull	8	0	0	-
Catch totals	107	0	0

Westmill - 12/02/2004: An initial catch at this new site in Hertfordshire.

Species	Ringed	Retraps	Controls	Colour ringed
Black-headed Gull	21	0	1	-
Lesser Black-backed Gull	9	0	1	-
Yellow-legged Gull	1	0	0	-
Herring Gull	37	0	0	-
Great Black-backed Gull	9	0	0	-
Catch totals	77	0	2

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