Larus ridibundus - help for ID of a metalring

[WolfgangSchweighofer]

Hello,

yesterday Christoph Roland, a Viennese ringreader, had observed several ringed BHG in Vienna´s large roosting area, the sewage purification plant in Simmering, where tens of thousands of BHG are roosting.
On one of the rings he could read the code EP 79210, but not the small digits concerning the ringing centre. He presumed Czech origin because we have already 4 different Czech ringtypes so far (old EX, new ES, ET, EN), but I have found on the website of KULING that a London-ring would fit very well. Unfortunately Christoph got only one bad picture in the darkness. I think that ring design and proportions of the inscription should be okay for London. Only the 2nd letter of "INFORM" in the first line looks not so good, but that might be an artefact...

It would be the first UK-ringed BHG in Austria. Any opinions?

Interestingly Christoph had a second bird with 2 different metalrings, so both legs ringed. It was too dark to read one of the rings.

In the last days many migrating BHG made stopovers at feeding places and compost dumps, because it is very cold now. Therefore many new rings occur. My best findings were 2 Belgian rings at the same spot (Wörth) on the same day and an Italian colourringed BHG in Linz, which I had read on the same place 5 years earlier - the first and only one from Italy in Austria so far!

Wolfgang

[Ruud Altenburg]

This is a slightly outdated but still very worthwhile page if you are looking for ring layouts:
http://www.holmer.nl/birdrings.htm

[WolfgangSchweighofer]

Of course I know that site, very useful, but becoming more and more "oldfashioned"

The "gullmaniacs" from Poland have collected a lot of newer rings: http://www.kuling.org.pl/ring2/index.html
There are several London-rings to see, among them modern types and a EP-ring. I feel that our ring is one of them, in spite of that non-fitting "N"...

[WolfgangSchweighofer]

Now I have received a new pic from the observer and that makes things easier: I can recognize S.W.7 in the second line - definitely London!