Photograph Copyright © Andy Deighton

Lesser Black-backed is probably the most common of the gulls in the Sheffield area. As a winter visitor it feeds during daylight hours in fields at our moorland edges, it can be seen at many of our larger water bodies, and it gathers to roost at our upland reservoirs, especially Langsett and Broomhead. But it is also the most numerous gull during late summer, when it forms both daylight and overnight roosts, with numbers building up from July onwards.

An afternoon roost at Redmires from July to September peaks in August. These birds sometimes move on before dusk, and formerly they possibly moved to Barbrook Res, but since Barbrook is now drained that option is no longer open to them. This may be a factor in the Redmires birds roosting overnight much more regularly, but it is also dependant on them being undisturbed [or not].

Probably the most well known LBBG summer roost though is at Middleton Moor number 4 lagoon, but how long this will continue, now the Laportes fluorspar operations have ceased, remains to be seen. 'Lessers' can be seen/heard flying in to Middleton Moor well after dark and it appears that they travel long distances to get there.

There is evidence that some of the birds visiting Sheffield are from roof-nesting gull colonies in the Bristol area, but there is also evidence that our LBBG's come from even further afield. That several races are involved can be seen quite easily from the variety of mantle colours on display.

Lesser Black-back Gulls also seem to be the "carrier species" along which most records of Yellow-legged Gulls seem to occur. This despite Yellow-legged Gull formerly being purportedly a race of Herring Gull.

Of interest, a small count of 130+ Lesser black-backed Gulls at Middleton Moor on 20th July 2003 included one with an inscribed plastic ring, shown in the above photograph by Andy Deighton. Having traced the history of this bird from the ringing information, Andy received the following information:

Response from David Sowter, who ringed this [the above] Lesser Black-backed Gull.
"This bird was ringed on the Ribble Estuary colony on 24th June 2000, when it was 30+ days old. So far I have had no other sightings of this gull, so it was good to know it is still alive. The majority of my gulls seem to migrate nearly due south through the Cheshire gap, past Gloucester ( big tip and keen watcher there) and then over the SW Peninsula to France or Spain/Portugal. Then some make it to Morocco, Mauritania and the farthest so far is Tanji reserve at the mouth of the Gambia river (same bird there for three years in January)."

So ... who knows where this gull has been between its birth on the Ribble Estuary and turning up at Middleton Moor.

Last updated: Saturday, 01 November 2003.

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