Oops!

7th November - the green colour-ringed 1st winter gull reappeared on the spit this afternoon.  I'd had my doubts on Sunday that this was actually a rather pale Lesser Black-back rather than a Yellow-leg, but had convinced myself it was YLG - for one thing, the scaps always looked a bit odd for YLG and it was also tiny - almost the smallest LWHG present.  Seeing it again today, it looked more like LBBG than YLG.  Luckily Neil W turned up as I saw the gull - I told him of my doubts on the original ID - and through his zoom lens we were eventually able to read the ring.  The letters looked yellow on green, which made them very diffcult to read, but we both agreed on KATH.  The CR website didn't list any schemes with this combination of colour codes, but a Dutch scheme did fit if the letters were white and we had missed reading a dot after the K.  So I tried this one and bingo it was one of their's and it was indeed a Lesser Black-backed Gull - judging by the size I'd say that it was also probably female.  Apparently the white letters get stained which makes them look yellow!

Almost illegible yellow code!

The scheme had monitored this bird from a day old chick on 13th June 2012 at a colony at Valley, Kelderhuispolder, Texel, NL.  It was last noted here on 19th July and no other records until now.

Also of note today was the reappearance of a female Tufted Duck with a nasal saddle coded BFK.  See http://littlemarlowgp.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/some-spring-movement.html
It seems to use LMGP as a staging post to another wintering ground, but it will be interesting to see whether she hangs around this year.