On September 16^th Moroccan ornithologist Saïd Azaouaghe (GREPOM/Birdlife Maroc) spotted this years chick V07 in company with its ringed father (YGYY) at Parc Ornithologue Marchica (Nador). This is the first record of Gull-billed Terns from the Neufelderkoog colony in Morocco.

YGYY is a male and among the most frequently reported individuals. He was born and ringed in 2015.

See also the report from the GREPOM/BirdLife Maroc-website.

This year about 35 chicks fledged and left the colony with their parents. This number is partly an estimate because the exact amount could not be established exactly due to difficult conditions mainy caused by high thistle vegetation. In the meantime 24 ringed chicks (+ 3 unringed) were reported from the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal. The resulting reproductive rate of 0,83 is about average compared to the last years. However, given a hatching success of about 70 chicks there is some mystery to be solved why the overall result has not been better.

In this season 60 chicks have been ringed with metal rings, 57 were also tagged with a white plastic ring with black inscription. This later provides the opportunity to identify an individual bird from a distance.