At Cosmeston, during Monday’s walk, I spotted this juvenile Lesser black-backed gull and was able to read the code on its left leg ring, F:D94. With a little searching on the European Colour-Ring Birding website, I found that the bird was probably ringed on the island of Flatholm, just over 3 miles off the south coast of Wales and a well known breeding site for Lesser black-backed gulls. I fired off an email reporting my sighting.

Just a short time later I got an email back, saying that the ringing group on Flatholm has now set up a website for the birds they ring. I found the website easy to use and it gives you instant feedback about the gull you’ve seen. F:D94 is one of this year’s breeding successes and was ringed as a chick on Flatholm on 1 July. So, for any birders amongst my followers, if you happen to spot a Flatholm bird (they have a tiny metal ring on their right leg and, on their left, a blue plastic ring with an alpha-numeric code that starts with an F), please do report your sighting on their Flat Holm Gulls website.