One of the gulls spotted was ringed in Norway over two years ago.
As the weather gets a bit cooler, Malta has started welcoming its first avian guests for autumn 2022 – some Lesser Black-Backed Gulls.
This species breeds on the Atlantic coasts of Europe and migrates south from the British Isles to warmer parts of the globe as the weather gets colder. Seeing as Malta enjoys relatively warm winters, many are the Lesser Black-Backed Gulls that make the islands their home for a few months.
The Salina Nature Reserve took to social media to mark the arrival of the first gulls, whilst sharing a couple of images of the cute birds.
“As autumn approaches, the first gulls start to arrive in Malta to either spend the winter months with us or perhaps continue on their journey south to their wintering grounds,” the nature reserve wrote.
“Among these gulls, a Lesser Black-Backed Gull (Gawwija Daharha Iswed) was recently observed at Salina carrying a black-coloured ring,” it continued.
As it turns out, the gull in question was ringed as a pullus well over two years ago, on 22nd July 2020, in the northernmost tip of Norway – specifically, at Revsal, Andopen, Flakstad, Nordland.
“The Lesser Black-Backed Gull was observed at Salina Nature Reserve on 9th September 2022, that is two years, one month, and 18 days (779 days) after ringing. The distance covered was 3,567 kilometres in a North to South direction,” the nature reserve added.
Coincidentally, local eNGO BirdLife Malta has just shared news of another migratory bird that recently made its way to Malta – a Wood Sandpiper (Swejda Cara) which was ringed as a young bird in June 2019 in Northern Finland.
“Considering this bird migrates South in autumn and back North in spring, this particular bird was undergoing its seventh migration, an incredible feat meaning this bird flew thousands and thousands of kilometres,” BirdLife Malta wrote.
“Such success stories go a long way to supporting our research work, which shows how important nature reserves are for birds during their migration,” it concluded.
Mario V Gauci, Salina Nature Reserve / Facebook