Birds today included a Curlew, two Black-headed Gulls, two Collared Doves and 11 Swifts. The afternoon was spent focusing on Lesser Black-backed Gulls that breed in dense grass and Bracken at the North End of Bardsey. As a result, they are hard to find as the chicks hide in the vegetation however, as a team 33 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 34 Herring Gulls were ringed. Unfortuanly, this two species look identical when they are young and its not until they start to grow juvenile feathers that they can be identified by the presence of a white 'window' on the inner primaries of Herring Gulls; the primaries are all black in Lesser Black-backed Gulls. 

Lesser Black-backed chick © Meg Betteridge

Dark inner primaries of the Lesser Black-backed Gull © Meg Betteridge

 

A highlight of an afternoon swim was this glowing Comb Jelly © Meg Betteridge