I was not able to get out last Saturday, and now it's Saturday again, and I'm sitting here in the late afternoon finishing this week's post. It is quite annoying to be stuck at home, but certain chores still need to be done, and I can't ignore certain family events.
Having said that, this week's post contains a real good mix of old and new. As well as juveniles, there are birds reported, that have not been seen for a couple of years, and the first re-sighting of a ten year old. As I've said on many occasions, I try to record each bird every winter, which not only proves that they are still alive, but the records are an extention to their longevities, and their preferred wintering sites. Sightings that have been reported to me by other observers, have been extremely welcomed, and I must applaud those, that have taken the time to share their observations. My blog acts as a 'hardcopy' for these sightings, which makes for more interest. So, a big 'Thank You', to you all.
An email which I received from the Ringing Team at the BTO, shows just how close we are in Northern Ireland, to another full lockdown :-
As of 16 October, the Northern Ireland government has asked the public to avoid all unnecessary travel;
at the time of writing, travel for leisure activities is not
specifically prevented but we would strongly encourage all volunteers to
stay local where possible and to think carefully before meeting others.
On the whole, 'Ringers' and 'Ring Readers', tend to go about their activities on their own, and thankfully, there are no travel restrictions in place here. For now at least, we can get to our survey sites without any problems. Just how long this lasts, is anybody's guess, and I'm hoping the winter will not be 'ruined' by a 'total lockdown', as we experienced last summer - 'fingers crossed'.
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| Black-headed Gulls at Antrim Marina - Monday 19th October 2020 |
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Once again, I undertook my latest weekly visit to Antrim Marina, on Monday morning. On Saturday evening, my younger son, said that he would go to the Marina on Sunday morning, so as together, we could finally begin the process of ringing the six cygnets. However, when I got up on Sunday morning at 7:30, I noticed my phone flashing, and I guessed correct, what that meant. My son had sent me a text message at 6:20, to say he could not go, as he was up for the fourth time during the night, being sick. I had already decided on Saturday night, to conduct my ring reading visit to the Marina on Monday morning, and spend Sunday looking at sites in counties Armagh & Down.
Having taken my wife to work first this morning, I arrived at the Marina at around 9:05. An estimated 80 Black-headed Gulls were already present, and I began looking for colour-ringed birds. 2AAB at 09:05, 2CSA at 09:11, and 2ABK at 09:11, were the first three to be recorded, when I then spotted a juvenile Black-headed Gull, bearing a Red Darvic. Out came the camera, and a few moments later, the code - 2EN5 , was captured. Straight away, I knew this was a Scottish bird, as I've recorded similar rings in the past. For good measure, I even captured the metal number for this young gull, which read - EA43805 .
On returning home, I quickly edited my photos, before reporting my sighting to Iain Livinstone, as well as submitting the bird onto the BTO's DemOn Ringing Database. Iain, never got back to me about 2EN5 , though we were in contact, concerning a gull spotted by David Nixon. Iain must have overlooked or forgot to reply about the bird, but the ringing details were received from the BTO on Thursday morning..
2EN5 , was ringed as a chick, on the 24th June 2020, at the Elvanfoot colony, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The duration from being ringed, is 3 months and 25 days, and the distance to Antrim Marina, is 182 kms / 113 miles (WSW). The colony at Elvanfoot, also contains a few pairs of Common Gulls, and a Common Gull chick - 2J74, that had been ringed there on the 1st July 2020, was recorded at Whitehead, by Cameron Moore, on the 24th September 2020.
Juvenile Black-headed Gull - 2EN5 - Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim (19 Oct 2020)
(Ringed as a Chick, on the 24th June 2020, at Elvanfoot, South Lanarkshire, Scotland)
Having sorted out 2EN5 , I carried on reading the colour-rings of our usual gulls, recording 2ACV at 09:18, 2ABL at 09:24, and 2CSJ at 09:40, but then at 09:43, I noticed another juvenile, this one bearing a metal-ring only. It flew off moments later, but eventually I found it again, and managed to photograph it's full ring number as - EZ78694 . I submitted my sighting via DemOn, at the same time as reporting on 2EN5 , and received a reply for this bird, a couple of hours later.
EZ78694 , had been ringed as a chick, on the 13th July 2020, at Marsh House Farm, at Stockon-on-Tees, in eastern England. This bird, ringed by members of the Tees Ringing Group, had flown 323 kms / 200 miles (W), to reach Antrim, and the duration from being ringed, is 3 months and 6 days. The ringing date is unusually late, when it comes to Black-headed Gulls, so I'm assuming that it was a late youngster, ringed after the easing of the lockdown restrictions.
Juvenile Black-headed Gull - EZ78694 - Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim (19 Oct 2020)
(Ringed as a Chick, on the 13th July 2020, at Marsh House Farm, Stockton-on-Tees, England)
By 10:30, I had read 13 of our colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls, out of a total of 21, which have been recorded so far this autumn/winter season. I had hoped to record the return, of the Polish breeding - 2AAR , and possibly 2ADV , but neither were spotted.
Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls at Antrim Marina Today - Monday 19th October 2020
| 2AAB | 2CSA | 2ABK | 2ACV | 2ABL | 2CSJ | 2AAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2CJT | 2CSR | 2AAK | 2AAN | 2CTC | 2BRA |
Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina this Autum/Winter, but Absent Today
| 2ABA | 2AAV | 2ABN | 2ABS | 2CSB | 2CSK | 2CSX | 2FDK |
|---|
I was especially keeping a watch, for the foreign metal-rung Black-headed Gull, which was here on my previous visit, but it did not appear today either. Overall, Black-headed Gull numbers increased to 100 to 120 mark, but there was also a very noticeable increase in the number of juveniles, which probably accounted for around a quarter of the Black-headed Gulls present. The gulls appear to be hungrier now, and hopefully, it won't be long now, before I capture a few more birds to be ringed.
Kate McAllister, called by Antrim Marina, on Thursday 15th October. Kate photographed three ringed Black-headed Gulls, and took a photo of a gull which she knew was different. This was actually a Common Gull, but goes to show, how interested Kate has become, when a different species shows up. One of the three ringed gulls photographed, just had a metal ring. I was able to see ' 26 ' on the ring, which told me, that the bird was 2ABL , who managed to lose it's colour-ring, some time ago. The full metal number would actually read - EY37326 . 2ABL was at the Marina throughout my visit today, which always presents me with a problem. Every time I see a metal-only bird, I have to re-check the ring, just in case a different gull appears.
The second of Kate's two sightings, was 2ABK , which was ringed here as an adult female, on the 23rd January 2013. Kate has recorded this one, a few times now, but the third gull was a first sighting for her. 2CTC , was ringed at the Marina, as a first winter bird, on the 24th December 2018.
Other Species at Antrim Marina
One of the first things that I noticed, after my arrival to the Marina, was that the Mute Swan family, containing the six cygnets were not present, and worse still, they did not appear at all. Apparently, they were present yesterday, so if we had gone to ring the cygnets, the journey would not have been a waste of time. My younger son, said he would definetly go next Sunday (Will I Hold My Breath!!!).
No sign of the family, but there were a pair of swans on the slipway. I ignored these at first to concentrate on reading gull rings, as I had presumed that this was the second pair which has visited on several occasions in recent weeks. Once I took a break from the gulls, I walked over to hand feed the swans with a few slices of bread, and then realised, that these were not the usual second pair. The female was wary of taking bread from my hand, though the male readily fed without any fuss.
The female, did not have that 'lumpy' beak, unlike the female from my ususal second pair. I checked the legs of both birds, but neither were ringed. At 10:22, I discovered another pair of swans on the small sandy beach. They had obviously slipped in from the Lough un-noticed, but on checking them out, they were my normal second pair. I, of course, fed them with a few slices of bread as well. At some point, I will want to ring them too, so I need to keep them 'sweet'.
An adult Common Gull, plus the normal adult Herring Gull, were present on my arrival, but both departed soon afterwards. There was no sign of the juvenile Herring Gull, which had been seen here for several weeks.
Mallard numbers remained constant throughout my visit, with just 40 to 50 birds present, and still no rings on these. It was actually a poor day for other species being recorded, with just 1 Magpie, and 5 Jackdaws being noted.
The Other Antrim Town Sites
By 11:30, the rain was falling quite heavily, and having not recorded a colour-ring since 10:30, I decided on an early departure. Leaving the Marina around midday, I went to check out the other three sites around the town of Antrim, that I often visit.
First stop, was at the Elim Church, on Antrim's Parkhall Housing Estate. Here, I recorded 2AAV , who has been recorded at Antrim Marina during this autum/winter season. Around 18 Black-headed and 2 Common Gulls were here, but no other rings were seen.
Moving on to the nearby KFC car park, just 10 Black-headed Gulls were present. I crumppled up some bread, and drove off for a few feet, but looking at the gulls legs, again no rings.
My final stop, was at Antrim's Baptist Church. Arriving here, a nice flock of around 80 birds were standing around in the car park of the Church, but to my dismay, the gate was locked. Looking through the birds with my binoculars, I could see no rings. I wasn't going to hang about, as having my car window open to see out, the rain just drove in. It was time to go home.
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| Sunday 18th October 2020 |
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Having decided to conduct my weekly visit to Antrim Marina, on Monday morning, today I set off to visit counties Armagh and Down. Using map directions through my phone, I checked out several inland lakes, and though I saw gulls at some of these sites, and using bread as a lure, no rings were recorded. I eventually hit the coast, at the Inner Bay at Dundrum, just as it was approaching high-tide. I spent quite a while scoping through the gulls and waders jostling around on any piece of land that was showing, and re-sighted one colour-ring.
This was on a Curlew, from a new Northern Ireland project, and a bird I first recorded on the 23rd August 2020. It was ringed here at Dundrum, on the 29th January 2020.
Curlew - B-Y(AAV) - Dundrum Inner Bay, Dundrum, Co. Down (18 Oct 2020)
(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Adult, on the 29th January 2020, at Dundrum)
With no prospect of finding any more rings for now, I decided to come back here later, on my way home. Being in this neck of the woods, I now had to kill time, waiting for the tide to go out again. I spent quite a while at Kilkeel Harbour, where there were quite a large number of gulls, most being Herring Gulls of varying ages. For all my patience, with plenty of gulls coming and going, not a single ring was spotted. All along, with these sort of numbers, I thought I would get at least one colour-ringed bird.
Moving on to Greencastle, I scoped a number of gulls roosting on the rocky islets, waiting for the tide to recede. One juvenile Herring Gull was spotted with an Orange Darvic, but it moved out of sight, before I could zoom in with my camera. Staying here for about an hour, the tide was on the turn, so I headed off to Mill Bay.
At Mill Bay, good numbers of large gulls were appearing on the newly exposed mud, though all were quite distant from me. Despite the brilliant zoom that my camera has, I failed to read the codes on two colour-rings, but I just about managed to capture the code on a third ring.
Going well into digital mode, I could see that I had captured something on the colour-ring, but I had to wait until I returned home, to investigate the photos in more detail, after downloading them onto my laptop. The code on this Great Black-backed Gull, read 394:D , and running the code through my spreadsheet, this was a new sighting for me.
I emailed my 'Ring Reading' counterpart in Dublin, who responds to these colour-ring sightings, and I soon had a reply. Graham Prole, was surprised to learn that 394:D , had moved so far north. Ringed as a chick, on Ireland's Eye island in County Dublin, on the 1st July 2017, it's previous four re-sightings, were reported in County Wicklow. There, 394:D , had been recorded around Arklow Harbour, in September 2017, July 2018, June 2020, and July 2020. The distance from Ireland's Eye, to Mill Bay on Carlingford Lough, is 73 kms / 45 miles (N), and the duration since being ringed, is now 3 years, 3 months and 17 days.
Many thanks goes to Graham, for his quick reply, and supplying this birds ringing history. At least my visit here, was not a total waste of time.
Great Black-backed Gull - 394:D - Mill Bay, Carlingford Lough, Co. Down (18 Oct 2020)
(Ringed as a Chick, on the 1st July 2017, on Ireland's Eye Island, Co. Dublin, Republic of Ireland)
Having returned to Dundrum Inner Bay, the tide was 'over the hill and far away', as here when the tide goes out, you see nothing but mud - the tideline being totally out of view. Scoping the birds from the main road, nothing was really that close, but I then spotted a Black-headed Gull with an Orange Darvic. It was a bird from Adam's former project, and on zooming in with my camera, I managed to capture the code - 2BFL , which meant nothing to me.
On returning home, and running the code through my spreadsheet, 2BFL , was actually re-sighted for the first time last winter, by Graham McElwaine, here at the Inner Bay. 2BFL , had been ringed as a chick, on the 2nd June 2014, at the RSPB's Blue Circle Island Reserve, on Larne Lough in County Antrim.
Graham's sighting on the 1st October 2019, occurred 5 years, 3 months and 29 days after the gull was ringed, and my sighting today, now takes the duration to 6 years, 4 months and 16 days. The distance from Blue Circle Island, to the Inner Bay, here at Dundrum, is 64 kms / 39 miles (S).
This re-sighting, along with a few others in this post, adds to the ever growing list of birds this winter, that have been recorded here in the past. Not only do these add to the re-sighting histories for each bird, but many more days are added to their longevity records as well.
Black-headed Gull - 2BFL - Dundrum Inner Bay, Dundrum, Co. Down (18 Oct 2020)
(Ringed as a Chick, on the 2nd June 2014, at the RSPB's Blue Circle Island Reserve, Larne Lough, Co. Antrim)
Quite a few Brent Geese were busy feeding over the mudflats, and by now the afternoon had disappeared, and the light was beginning to fade. I have largly avoided reading rings on Brent Geese, as I've been waiting for a new 'Brent Goose Online Database', to be up and running. Despite all of the talk (read here), the proposed Database, is still 'a dead duck'.
With a few colour-ringed birds running about, I decided to record them anyway, and report my sightings to Graham McElwaine, who was formerly the ringing co-ordinator for the Irish Brent Goose Research Group.
Having recorded six colour-ringed birds, Graham duly replied, providing out-dated ringing and re-sighting histories for five birds. As is normal with the Brents, I do not delve into the re-sighting histories, as these rings are so easily read, the re-sighting data for some birds can be quite lengthy.
For me personally, I'm quite happy, just to learn when and where the birds were ringed in the first instance. All six birds were first sightings for me, but all Graham knew about the last bird listed below, is that it was ringed recently in County Dublin. My thanks goes to Graham, for supplying the ringing details.
Brent Goose - C J - Dundrum Inner Bay, Dundrum, Co. Down (18 Oct 2020)
(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Adult, on the 28th March 2015, at Dundrum)
Brent Goose - L J - Dundrum Inner Bay, Dundrum, Co. Down (18 Oct 2020)
(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Adult, on the 28th March 2015, at Dundrum)
Brent Goose - Z 3 - Dundrum Inner Bay, Dundrum, Co. Down (18 Oct 2020)
(Ringed as an Un-Sexed 2nd Calendar Year Bird, on the 31st January 2017, at Dundrum Inner Bay)
Brent Goose - A C - Dundrum Inner Bay, Dundrum, Co. Down (18 Oct 2020)
(Ringed as an Adult Female, on the 9th February 2018, at Dundrum)
Brent Goose - A L - Dundrum Inner Bay, Dundrum, Co. Down (18 Oct 2020)
(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Adult, on the 31st January 2017, at Dundrum)
Brent Goose - B S - Dundrum Inner Bay, Dundrum, Co. Down (18 Oct 2020)
(Waiting for the Ringing Details)
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| From Cameron Moore |
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An email which arrived to me from Cameron Moore, was a delight to receive. This one concerned a Black-headed Gull, colour-ringed - 2PAC , which Cameron spotted at Glenarm Harbour, on Tuesday 20th October 2020. As soon as I saw the colour-ring code, I thought - WOW!!
I instantly recognised the code, having not seen the gull since 2017. 2PAC , had been ringed as an un-sexed adult, on the 27th February 2016, by the North Thames Gull Group, at the Pitsea Landfill Site, in Essex, England. Having contacted Paul Roper, the group's ringing co-ordinator, all sightings of this bird, have been made here in Northern Ireland.
9 months, and 6 days after being ringed (3rd December 2016), 2PAC was spotted by Neal Warnock on Carnlough Beach, here in County Antrim. I recorded 2PAC , on Carnlough Beach, on the 16th December 2016, and again on the 9th January 2017. This was the final sighting, until Cameron spotted the gull at Glenarm, which is situated just around a headland from Carnlough Bay.
Over the last few winters, I've been on the lookout for 2PAC at Carnlough Beach, whilst keeping tabs on an Icelandic colour-ringed Oystercatcher. I thought we had seen the last of 2PAC , but you just never know when 'Ring Reading', what will happen next.
The duration since being ringed, has now jumped to 4 years, 7 months and 23 days, and the distance from the Pitsea Landfill Site, to Glenarm, is roughly 576 kms / 358 miles (NW). My thanks to Cameron for sharing this quite wonderful re-sighting, and to Paul Roper for his comments.
(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Adult, on the 27th February 2016, at Pitsea Landfill Site, Essex, England)
(Photo Courtesy of Cameron Moore)
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| From David Nixon |
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On Wednesday 21st October 2020, I received another email from David Nixon, reporting on another two gull sightings - a Great Black-backed Gull, and a Black-headed Gull. Firstly, I now have the ringing details for a Herring Gull, recorded by David on the 7th October 2020, this one being reported on, in my previous post. David had spotted the gull, colour-ringed - (White) 3W7:C, at Dundrum Inner Bay in County Down. I emailed Iain Livingstone in Scotland, which then took a few days, before I received a reply.
(White) 3W7:C, had been ringed as a chick, on the 28th June 2014, on Horse Isle Nature Reserve, which lies just off the coast from Ardrossan, in Ayrshire, Scotland. David did not realise until Iain's reply, that he was actually the first to re-sight the bird, here at Dundrum Bay, on the 31st March 2017. I checked both my emails and my spreadsheet, but I was not involved with that particular sighting, which led me to believe that David's recent sighting, may well have been a first for Northern Ireland.
Before David's recent sighting, another sighting of (White) 3W7:C, had been reported on the 12th July 2018, where the bird was found on Lady Isle, just off the coast from Troon in Ayrshire, and a few kilometres south of Horse Isle, where it had been ringed as a chick.
Iain also supplied me with the metal number for (White) 3W7:C, but as I went to submit David's sighting onto the DemOn Ringing Database, I noticed that the bird had been ringed as a Lesser Black-backed Gull chick. In this case, I presumed that both the metal number, and the colour-code, were correct, but the chick had indeed been mis-identified whilst being ringed. I wrote back to Iain, who confirmed that both rings were correct, and the gull was obviously mis-identified at the time of ringing, and that he would now correct the ringing details.
As none of the birds three sightings, had been reported to the BTO, I then submitted all three. The duration since being ringed, up to David's sighting on the 7th October 2020, is now 6 years, 3 months and 9 days. I do not as yet, have an offical distance from the BTO, but I estimate it as, 167 kms / 104 miles (SW).
Herring Gull - (White) 3W7:C - Dundrum Inner Bay, Dundrum, Co. Down (07 Oct 2020)
(Ringed as a Chick, on the 28th June 2014, on Horse Isle NR, Ardrossan, Ayrshire, Scotland)
(Photo Courtesy of David Nixon)
Whilst at work on Wednesday 21st October, I checked my phone for emails during my lunch-break, to discover David Nixon had contacted me concerning two gull sightings. The first of these concerned a Great Black-backed Gull, colour-ringed - 1KU . After returning home from work in the early hours of Thursday morning, I replied to David, to say that the gull belonged to a former project, which belonged to Chris Honan. I copied in, my 'Ring Reading' counterpart in Dublin - Graham Prole, who now responds to Chris Honan's former project.
When I got out of bed on Thursday morning, Graham had replied. It appears, that David's sighting is a first for this bird, which may have been ringed as a chick in 2010. This really pleased me, as in my reply to David, I personally hoped that this would be a first re-sighting. Graham went on to say, that for some reason, half of the Great Black-backed's that are ringed, appear to disappear until around 5 years of age, and then begin to get re-sighted. In this case, it's 10 years, and just recently, another 10 year old from the same former project - 1CC , turned up on the Isle of Man.
Graham, said he would get back to us on the exact ringing details, as he would have to contact the BTO, in order to obtain the birds metal number, etc. It is most likely, that 1KU , was ringed on the island known as Ireland's Eye, situated just off the County Dublin coast. My thanks to Graham for his reply, along with what is known thus far.
Graham Prole, copied me into the emails which were exchanged, between himself and Sabine at the BTO. Apparently, 1KU is not on their Database, and therefore the exact date and site of ringing cannot be verified. The only solution, is to read the metal-ring, and that would take some doing. It seems possible, that when Chris Honan submitted the original ringing data, he subsequently forgot to add in the colour-code. All said and done, Graham Prole reckons 1KU was ringed as a chick, on the 10th July 2010, on Ireland's Eye Island, Co. Dublin.
Great Black-backed Gull - 1KU - Dundrum Inner Bay, Dundrum, Co. Down (21 Oct 2020)
(Probably Ringed as a Chick, on the 10th July 2010, on the Ireland's Eye Island, Co. Dublin)
(Photo Courtesy of David Nixon)
The second of David's two sightings, was one I could easily deal with. This concerned a Black-headed Gull from Adam McClure's former Northern Ireland project, which I now respond to. The bird concerned, colour-ringed 2BXV , was ringed as a chick, on the 24th June 2016, at the WWT's Castle Espie Wetland Reserve, in County Down.
The only two previous re-sighting records that I have, came from Adam's own Black-headed Gull database, a copy of which I now hold. 2BXV , had been re-sighted, as a then juvenile, on the 5th & 8th February 2017, at Corbet Lough in County Down. This third sighting made by David, comes after 4 years, 3 months and 27 days, since being ringed. The distance from Castle Espie, to the Inner Bay at Dundrum, is a short 32 kms / 20 miles (SW).
I very much like sightings such as these. It just goes to show, that despite some gulls obviously being quite local in their wanderings, they can still go about being un-dectected. Perhaps, next summer at Castle Espie, this bird could possibly be found breeding there. Fingers crossed, that there are no 'Coronavirus Restrictions', as there was during the past summer.
My thanks once again goes to David, for reporting these interesting sightings, along with the photos.
Black-headed Gull - 2BXV - Dundrum Inner Bay, Dundrum, Co. Down (21 Oct 2020)
(Ringed as a Chick, on the 24th June 2016, at the WWT Castle Espie Wetland Centre, Co. Down)
(Photo Courtesy of David Nixon)
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