In this update on the Lesser Black-backed Gulls from our Dutch IJmuiden Forteiland project we can report that 13 more adults have been fitted with a GPS logger this week. This is in addition to the 10 that were fitted with a logger in 2019 (of which 7 are still around).
See the end of this post for information about this project.
Their movements can be followed during the breeding season on http://www.uva-bits.nl/project/daily-movements-of-gulls-from-forteiland-ijmuiden/.
The following list shows the ring code and the logger ID:
- YAVH/5965
- SAAC/5654
- YDAS/5469
- YDAU/5557
- YDAV/5576
- YDAX/5604
- YDAZ/5964
- YDBA/5967
- YDBB/5971
- YDBC/5976
- YDBD/5977
- YDBH/5979
- YDBJ/5983
Here are the first tracks of all individuals (click for a larger view):
Interesting individuals
Three of the thirteen individuals are quite special: SAAC, YAVH, and YDBJ.
SAAC/5654
SAAC was ringed in 2015 in a small colony in nearby Zaandam as part of one our other projects.
SAAC was probably born in IJmuiden but was breeding in Zaandam in 2015 and 2016. Interestingly, when the colony became unavailable due to construction work, SAAC moved to the colony at Forteiland where it started breeding in 2017 and has done so ever since.
SAAC is fitted with logger 5654. On May 26 he made a fouraging trip to Amsterdam, a popular location for many of our Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
YAVH/5965
YAVH was originally ringed at Forteiland as a breeding adult in 2011 and is known to spend its winter in Spain and Portugal.
YAVH with (barely visible) GPS-logger on its nest:
It too has a favorite spot in Amsterdam and has also been out to the North Sea.
YDBJ/5983
YDBJ was actually ringed as YAAX in 2008, the very first year when the colour ringing project started at IJmuiden Forteiland.
Because colour rings don’t last very long, the ring with code YAAX was replaced by a new ring with code YDBJ when the logger was fitted this week.
Very little is know about the whereabouts of YAAX/YDBJ outside the colony so the logger will provide much valuable data. The tracks have already revealed a foraging trip out to the North Sea:
About the project
(Source: http://www.uva-bits.nl/project/daily-movements-of-gulls-from-forteiland-ijmuiden/)
The tracking study is part of an ongoing collaboration between the University of Amsterdam UvA (Dr. Judy Shamoun-Baranes) and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research NIOZ (Dr. Kees Camphuysen).
The study is being conducted within the project “Interactions between birds and offshore wind farms: drivers, consequences and tools for mitigation” funded by NWO Applied and Engineering Sciences Open Technology Programme, Rijkswaterstaat and Gemini windpark.
The tracking study will provide complementary information on the movement patterns of gulls breeding along the North Sea coast, with similar objectives to the studies conducted on Texel and Schiermonnikoog.
The main aim is to identify intrinsic and external drivers of movement from fine scale flight behaviour to seasonal migrations. While adult gulls from other colonies have been tracked since 2008, little is still known about the daily movements and flight behaviour of juveniles and how this differs from adults.
This study will contribute to our knowledge on how juvenile birds develop their foraging and migration strategies and how their flight behaviour differs from adults.
Sightings
If you come across any of our gulls from the IJmuiden Forteiland project, please let us know. Feel free to include me on the e-mail: gulls at vankleinwee.com.
Gulls to the Horizon 