Jæren-gulls

Went to Stavanger, Rogaland this weekend with the aim of Ring-billed Gull. Have to say that I failed. Gladly everyone else failed too this weekend. Of course other rare species are exciting enough (Avocet, Med Gull and Surf Scoter, the Red-crested Pochard tricked us).

During the trip I had time to check out a lot of gull-flocks. Besides Med Gull not much exciting in them. A Herring Gull tripped me up a little while. Seams to me like it has a classic Common moult!

3cy? Herring Gull, with totally moulted back, but old wing feathers

update! Med Gull at Aker Brygge

Have looked up the photos from Kristoffer Bøhn in PS now, and have concluded that it is in fact the same as at Marienlyst. The bird has a metalring on it's left foot (Norwegian size...), and the bird looks exactly like the bird at Marienlyst. So why have the bird decided to move around?

Most likely this is not a new-developed movement for the Med. I think that the Med and Common Gulls from Marienlyst sleeps somewhere in the fjord every night. Most likely the Med Gull was on it's way to the feeding area at Marienlyst when Kristoffer saw the bird on the ice at Aker Brygge.This technique seems to be normal in the Urban small Gull population in Oslo. Large amounts of Common and some Black-headed Gulls flies out against the fjord in the evening every day.

Here is all the photos Kristoffer managed to take of the gull at Aker Brygge. (full resolution)

Photo: Kristoffer Bøhn

Med Gull at Aker Brygge

Yesterday a Med was seen on Aker Brygge some minutes before 11:30. The  bird was seen from the boat from Nesodden by Kristoffer Bøhn. He managed to take some distance photos. The bird stood on the left foot (the one with metalring), so Kristoffer didn't manage to see any ring. At 13 o'clock Simon Rix saw the same Med as before at Marienlyst. Was the bird on Aker Brygge the same?

Today Kristoffer has sent me the original photos from Aker Brygge, and I think the bird has a metalring on the foot, but it's quite hard to see clearly. I will try to take the photo up in PS when I come home, and see what is possible to get out of the distance. The rest of the bird looks alike, so it's most likely the same. Interesting that it moves so far away form Marienlyst without anyone knowing about it!

I will put out photos of the Aker Brygge bird later today.

If you want something done, you have to do it yourself!

Well, the Mediterranean Gull has been seen almost everyday the last week. The problem was that the bird was visible only some minutes every day! Large amounts of small gulls migrated over Frognerparken at the evening, and sometimes the Med was seen together with them. The bird has to be somewhere during the day! With that in mind I took a trip to Oslo to look for gulls.

The Med Gull always came in from north in the evening. So that was the place to look. I started of by a short look at Frognerparken, but only two Black-headed sat on the ice. With no gull in the park, I walked north against Majorstuen. Here I filled up the bag with old bread from Rema 1000, and started looking at the gulls on the roof. 200 meters up Kirkeveien I saw two small gulls on a chimney. Binoculars where pointed at them, and the bird that was turned away was looking good. A Med Gull on the chimney! I walked around and tried to feed the birds. Not hard at all. All the birds in the area came, but they rarely landed.

Most likely the Med has been in the area from Majorstuen to Marienlyst all the time since it last was under control. The only problem is that nobody has been looking for it!

Simon (and every body else!), now you may have a chance to see the bird in 2012! Not all of us needed 10 trips ;)

Med Gull on the ground!

The Iceland at Frogn is still present!

Still White-winged and Mediterranean Gull

Today there was still one Iceland Gull at Skiphelle. Today I have been there to look at it.

The Mediterranean Gull was again seen at Frognerparken this evening. The bird have never been there during the day, but have migrated south in the evening almost every time it has been seen. Where are the bird during the day? Just to start looking!

Med Gull and lookalike!

Took a search on Langvannet today. It resulted in the same lookalike as before Christmas. It sat at the usual place on land in south. The Mediterranean Gull from yesterday was also seen today at Frongerparken.

Mediterranean Gull

The MedGull from before Christmas was refound today! After near 2 weeks without sightings. The bird was found today at Frognerparken by Jan Erik Berglihn. Yesterday Simon Rix was on a trip to try to refind the bird, without any results.

So where has the bird been? Has it been in Oslo all the time, or has it been in the fjord? Most likely is maybe that the bird has been in Oslo all the time, maybe explored some new and undiscovered places. Like Smedstaddammen, upper part of Akerselva, or some other low alert places. It can also absolutely have been on Aker Brygge almost all the time! The bird seemed to have been some frightened by the ringing, and had more safety distance after the session. Maybe the bird needed some time to get used to the ring, took some longer trips out in the fjord, and have now returned for at least the rest of the winter?

We can only wait and see! Where the bird will be seen next time?