Colour Ring-billed Gull

After multiple misread gull rings at Alnwickhill over the last year I was delighted to find that the nearest adult Ring-billed Gull on Marconi Beach in Cape Cod in July was sporting a fine piece of bling. Well I'll be gol darned if its not mighty close enough to read and captured on camera n'all - things are just so much easier stateside it seems.

It turns out that this Ring-billed Gull was ringed at the Ile Dirette, Laval, near Montral in Quebec in June 2010 as an adult and is a male. 

Here are some more adult Ring-billed Gulls loafing on the sands. Great birds in my opinion, but not a feeling shared by everyone - I think that one of the motivations behind the colour ring studies in Canada is to try to understand this species behaviour better in order to reduce the conflict between the Ring-billed Gull and residents of cities such as Montreal...