Banded/flagged Gull - Foxton

[Paul Gibson]

I saw today at Foxton on the estuary a red-billed gull (I think) with a white alpha flag - T27. Distant picture from scope/phone below.

20190420_142847.jpg (194.54 KiB) Viewed 1483 times

[Patrick Crowe]

Hi Paul

This is one of our banded black-billed gulls. This bird was banded as a chick in 2014 on the Wairau River and has been breeding on that same river in recent years. It was spotted at Foxton back in 2015, 2017 and in 2018 so must be one of it's preferred spots. Thanks for posting

[Paul Gibson]

Thanks Patrick, interesting. It was in a mixed flock of red and black-billed gulls and with head tucked away was unsure of species.