leitura de anilhas de L. melanocephalus

Dear friends,



A short report of last week trip to Portugal together with Guido Goris, Philippe Verdegem, Lyndon Kearsley and Edwin Rooselaer (see picture in separate mail).



Taking advantage of the experience of my five previous trips to Portugal, we focused our ringreading effort on the Mira river mouth in Vila Nova de Milfontes (halfway between Lisbon and Faro) and the Tages river mouth in Lisbon.



The results are as follows :

- 125 colour rings and 1 metal ring on Mediterranean Gulls (58 from Belgium-Netherlands, 43 from France, 13 from Hungary, 5 from Germany, 3 from Serbia, 2 from Italy and 2 from the Czech Republic);

- 1 Sandwich Tern;

- 1 Common Ringed Plover;

- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls;

- 18 Black-tailed Godwits.



A new record of read Med Gull colour rings was broken : 34 in November 2005, 50 (+ 3 metals) in January 2006, 47 in January 2007, 68 in January 2008, 104 in January 2009.



Again and again, the Mediterranean Gulls appear to be very faithful to their wintering grounds. The best ringreading places are :

- Vila Nova de Milfontes : the Mira river mouth with :

o a big rock in front of the river on the beach (as soon as feasible, fishermen are investing the rock);

o the south bank of the river close to an abandoned restaurant, on which Med Gulls are preening and resting after drinking and bathing in the small (fresh-)water flow running into the Mira river;

- Lisbon area : all the beaches on the north bank between Cascais and Lisbon as long as gulls have the place to land, especially mentioning from west to east :

o the flat rocks of Parede;

o the surf beach of Carcavelhos (especially where fresh water is flowing into the sea (second parking place if coming from the west));

o the very small beach of Praia da Torre (escape beach for Med Gulls disturbed on the one of Carcavelhos);

o the beach of Santo Amaro de Oeiras (metal rings to be read if gulls roost on the flat rocks on the western tip, just below the parking place);

o the three small beaches of Baia dos Golfinhos (including a small beach east of the castle);

o the beach of Cruz Quebrada, just besides the railway station (from this location, you can notice if Dafundo and the roosting place close by are worth the trip);

o the beach of Dafundo (ideally to be observed in or behind your car from the next location; together with the next location, these places are by far the best in Lisbon; be there at upcoming tide as soon as more western beaches are abandoned by the gulls; hundreds of Med’s);

o the high water roosting place just behind the beach of Dafundo (access to this place is limited and you should better ask a permission to the port authorities; hundreds of Med’s);

o the small beach of port control tower of Lisbon (heavily disturbed);

- Ericeira area (small town at 1 hour north of Lisbon) :

o the south bank of the river mouth of Lizandro, just south of Ericeira; the beach of the river mouth of Lizandro; to be observed from the north bank; surprisingly 343 Med Gulls on 07/01/2011!!!

o the beach of Matadouro, just north of Ericeira; usually very few gulls.



Surfers, joggers, tourists (especially with dogs!) and fishermen can seriously hamper your ringreading activities. Trying to explain them what you’re doing before they reach the “critical take-off distance” and asking them to remain well clear of the gulls can be very rewarding. A printout with a Portuguese text can help!



Disturbed Med Gulls usually shift to the more eastern location in the Tages river.



The more windy conditions you have at sea, the more Med’s you should have on the beaches.



It still remains a very nice observation to end the day at Boca do Inferno in Cascais. From this place, try to locate two yellow buoys in a south-west direction, 4 km from the shore. An underwater sewage exit is located there. Just before sunset, the Med Gulls are feeding there, usually a few thousands!!!



Vila Nova has to be visited preferably in the afternoon or at sunset with a reasonable availability of beach and rocks.



Very many thanks to all the persons helping me in making this trip a big success, and more especially Joao Lopes, Filipe Moniz, Martin and Luisa Poot, Carlos Pacheco and Rui Caratao.



Unfortunately, we still receive very few ringreadings from this important wintering area. Until February-March, this area should remain very good for ringreading. Any volunteers? Do not hesitate to contact me for further details.



Best regards,



Renaud



R. FLAMANT

Leopold III laan / Boulevard Léopold III, 43/87

B-1030 Brussels

Belgium

Renaud.Flamant@skynet.be