Here is a summary of re-sightings of Med Gull Yellow AZTZ that was at Goodwick Flagpoles yesterday. thanks to Hendrik for supplying details of its re-sightings history so far. 

It was ringed by the  Leipzig  Ringing Team at Rehbach Gravel Pit, Leipzig, Sachsen (yellow arrow on map) in June 2019. This is 1194 km from Fishguard/Goodwick, and so not too far from the colony that another bird (noted at Newport yesterday by Andy Sims) was ringed. 

Yellow AZTZ bred in Czech Republic, near the border with Poland (Green arrow) in 2021. It was seen in July this year at Heysham Power Station outfalls, Lancashire (where it was also seen in Sept 2019), before heading down to Pembrokeshire. 

Hopefully it, and others from that area, will continue to be sighted in Pembs.   

On a separate, totally unrelated topic, on Friday last week we counted 83 Mute Swans feeding on the muddy low-tide shore at Front Street, Pembroke Dock. Something tasty in the mud (surface algae perhaps?) presumably had attracted them there. They probably move around the estuary quite a bit. Crossings between Pembroke Dock and Hazel Beach, Neyland are probably quite regular for example, and also to and from Pembroke Millpond. All the swans on Friday looked quite healthy.

Typically, around 100 Mute Swans winter in the Milford Haven Waterway and Cleddau Estuary system (WeBS annual monthly population counts), so the Front Street flock on Friday appears to represent quite a high proportion of the expected “average” whole estuary population. However, we probably do underestimate their numbers a bit. Milford Docks, for example, is not counted for the WeBS and so any regularly resident waterfowl there could be missed.