I received the life history recently of this Black-headed Gull I photographed in Regent's Park in December last year. By circling the bird I was able to take enough differently-angled photos to piece together the BTO ring number (DSLR's eh? genius). Initially I was vaguely disappointed to find out the bird was ringed in Regent's Park (distance - 0km, 0m), but then looked at the date - November 1980! This puts the bird over 29 years old; on checking the world longevity record for the species, I found out the oldest on record is 31.....
Aside from local tw*tches for the (very worthwhile) Dusky warbler (see below), little to report locally since getting back from New England a couple of weeks ago, aside from yet another enchanting little hybrid aythya on the local patch yesterday.
Despite it being unarguably the dullest and most lifeforce-draining time of year, the prospect of late winter sun and easy birding beckons. With holiday time needing to be taken before the end of the financial year, and ideas variously flung around over recent weeks, we're all set for a week in Florida from the 22nd March; three Pearsons, of two generations, one hire-car and half a mind to spend most of the trip lolling around in the pool with a variety of cocktails.
