More Than Enough...

As usual I'm pushed for time.  It's Friday afternoon, and I really needed to get this post published, as goodness knows what I'll record over the coming weekend.  In my previous post, I mentioned that I had to babysit three cats last Saturday.  One reason for this, is one of the three - named 'Fat Cat', has not been too well of late, but when I got up today, the wife was in tears.  Having worked the night-shift last night, I got up at midday, to hear that 'Fat Cat' was no more.  The wife got up this morning to find splatters of blood everywhere, which she was in the process of cleaning up.  She managed to get an emergency appointment with the vet, but unfortunately 'Fat Cat' had to be put down.  The Vet was not sure what the problem was, but the cat was clearly distressed and in pain.  To save further suffering, the decision was made to put the critter to sleep.

 

I'm now back on the road 'Ring Reading' again, and am looking forwards to re-sighting many birds back on their wintering sites, as well as recording new birds.  My first weekly visit to Antrim Marina for this winter, got off to a good start, with 20 rings being read and there's going to be a lot more over coming weeks.

 

Sightings from other birdwatchers are coming in, including a nice haul of seven colour-rings read by Cameron Moore - more on these in my next post.  I have the details for four gull sightings made by Graham McElwaine, which I had planned to include in this post, but I've simply just ran out of time.  The work needed to keep up with spreadsheets, databases, editing photos etc., is so time consuming, plus I have to submit these sightings to the BTO, and create folders for each bird's details.  I still cannot find time to finish my Common Gull article, but this is the problem being the 'go to man' when it comes to ring sightings.

 

The recovery for a Herring Gull which I recorded at Ballyholme in County Down, back in the spring of 2018, has finally arrived.  The result of that one makes for a bizarre reading, but more on that one in my next post.  Aaaah, I'm just about to publish this post, and I've just received an email from Iain Livingstone, concerning the Lesser Black-backed Gull which I spotted here at Ballymena (see previous post).  A nice little set of re-sightings for this bird, but again, it will have to go into my next post.  I already have enough to work on, never mind getting out myself this weekend.

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Antrim Marina - Monday 9th August 2021

And, here we go again.  My visit to Antrim Marina today, sees the start of my eighth autumn/winter season recording ringed/colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls at Antrim Marina.  It all started back on the 21st September 2013.  I had taken a friend to Antrim Area Hospital to attend an appointment, and to kill some time whilst I was waiting to take her back home, I decided to call by Antrim Marina to see what was about.  During that visit, I noticed a Black-headed Gull bearing a White Darvic and managed to capture the code - T35J.  This prompted me to look at the other Black-headed Gulls, and I recorded another three with Orange Darvic's.  With that, a text message came in from my friend to say she was ready to go back home.

My colour-ring sightings had me wondering, how come there happened to be four colour-ringed gulls present at the same time.  Intrigued by what I had seen, I returned to Antrim Marina the following day and spotted another nine Black-headed Gulls with Orange Darvic's.  I was fascinated now and sent all 13 sightings to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).

At this point in time, despite having been a birdwatcher since the age of seven, I had been relatively inactive for a number of years.  Although I was aware of colour-ringing schemes, this was the first time I had come across a colour-ringed bird, but to record thirteen in two days!!!  A few days later, I began to receive recovery details from the BTO, only to find that the Orange rung Black-headed Gulls were actually caught and ringed at Antrim Marina, and (White) T35J was originally ringed as a chick in Lithuania in 2006.

Another couple of days passed, when I then received an email from Adam McClure.  As it turned out, Adam had ringed the gulls as part of a new Northern Ireland project which he began on the 12th November 2012, when -   2AAA  and   2ADJ  became the first birds to be ringed, with both having been ringed as adult birds at the Marina.  I was 'hooked', and decided to help Adam with his project by recording the gulls at Antrim Marina on a weekly basis throughout each autumn and winter.  The sightings at the Marina, became a project within a project, which eventually saw myself looking for ringed birds at other sites.  I became so good at recording rings, I even started my own blog to record my findings.

Unfortunately, Adam had to give up on his study in 2018, and I took over as respondent to ring sightings.  However, I had decided to keep my study at Antrim Marina as an ongoing concern, and had even re-trained as a ringer where I could catch and colour-ring gulls myself, not only leading to more Black-headed Gulls being added to the Antrim Marina population, but I also started my own Common Gull colour-ringing project on Rathlin Island.

Last weekend, was supposed to see the start of this winter's weekly visits to Antrim Marina, but I decided to stay away, as I had received an email from the local Council, stating that the Marina would be closed due to a 'Parks Event'.

Having took my wife to work first today, I arrived at Antrim Marina at 09:10, to find that the barrier which lets authorised vehicles into the area of the slipway, was not working.  Instead of being able to take my car in, which not only acts as a shelter from the elements, it also makes for a useful hide when parked beside the short concrete jetty, but I had to park in the main car park.

 

Armed with my telescope, binoculars and camera, I walked around to the jetties to find that there were at least 50 to 60 Black-headed Gulls present, and out of these, I quickly read 9 colour-rings.  It was a cloudy start to the day, and a chilly breeze was coming in from Lough Neagh.  As the morning passed by, the sun began to shine and more and more gulls started to arrive.  I had to leave at 12:15, as I needed to grab a couple of hours 'kip' before starting work on the night shift.

 

At one point later in the morning, around 100 to 120 Black-headed Gulls were present, and I recorded my 20th colour-ring at 12:06, this being -   2AAB .  Of the gulls that I recorded, the Orange Darvic's through to -   2CSR , were all ringed whilst Adam was still running his project.    2CTC , and all those ringed with Blue Darvic's were ringed by me in continuation of my study at Antrim Marina.  I was forced to use the Blue   2F**  series of colour-rings, as Kendrew Colhoun has still not passed over the remaining colour-rings from Adam's project, which I was supposed to get, and included the remaining   2C**  series, along with the un-touched   2D**  series.  I had to re-register the Blue   2F**  series from use on Common Gulls to Black-headed Gulls.

Of today's re-sightings, with the exception of -   2FDK , all of the other eight Black-headed Gulls recorded with Blue Darvic's, were among 18 gulls that I caught and ringed last winter, with -   2FHC  being the last of them, having been ringed on the 28th December 2020.  After the second 'Coronavirus Lockdown' came into force on the 4th January 2021, my weekly visits which should have continued until the end of March, had to be postponed.

Easing of the second 'Lockdown' began in April, but by this time, many of the gulls had already departed towards their breeding sites.  Indeed, the re-sightings of one particular gull, made for some very interesting reading.  My last sighting of -   2FDJ , was made on my visit to the Marina on the 4th January 2021.  On the 5th February, it was then spotted at Motherwell in Scotland, followed by three sightings in Kilmarnock, Scotland, on the 11th, 13th and 14th February.  On the 4th April 2021, I was really 'gobsmacked', on receveing a report that -   2FDJ , had been spotted 44 kms away from the border with Russia, having been recorded in eastern Estonia.  Last year, my last winter sighting of -   2FDJ , was made on the 9th March 2020, and no reports were received before it's return to Antrim Marina on the 25th October 2020.  If all goes well, then -   2FDJ  should return by mid to late October this autumn.

Another gull that I'm especially interested in, is -   2FDV .  This gull appeared at Antrim Marina on the 19th October 2020, having been ringed as a chick with a metal only, on the 13th July 2020, in Stockton-on-Tees in England.  I managed to catch the gull on the 9th November 2020, and fitted a colour-ring onto it's left leg.  I last recorded this one on the 12th April 2021, but there has been no other sightings reported so far.  I'm really hoping that -   2FDV  will return again this winter.

Today's 20 birds form the baseline for this winter's re-sightings, and as the weeks pass by, I'll report on each bird as I go along.  Of the 18 Black-headed Gulls that were caught and colour-ringed last winter, 10 were juvenile/1st winter birds, and the other 8 were adults.  Today, three of those juveniles were recorded, so I was well pleased to see that they have survived this far.

 

  2FFF , was ringed as a juvenile/1st winter bird at Antrim Marina, on the 30th November 2020, which takes the duration as of today, to 8 months and 10 days.

 

Black-headed Gull  -    2FFF   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (09 Aug 2021)

(Ringed as a Juvenile / 1st Winter Bird, on the 30th November 2020, at Antrim Marina)

 

  2FFX , was ringed as a juvenile/1st winter bird at Antrim Marina, on the 21st December 2021, which takes the duration as of today, to 7 months and 19 days.

 

Black-headed Gull  -    2FFX   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (09 Aug 2021)

(Ringed as a Juvenile/1st Winter bird, on the 21st December 2020, at Antrim Marina)
 

  2FFL , was ringed as a juvenile/1st winter bird at Antrim Marina, on the 14th December 2020, which takes the duration as of today, to 7 months and 26 days.

Black-headed Gull  -    2FFL   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (09 Aug 2021)

(Ringed as a Juvenile/1st Winter Bird, on the 14th December 2020, at Antrim Marina)

 

 

Colour-Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Monday 9th August 2021

2FDK	2FFJ	2AAN	2FFF	2CJT	2FFA	2FHA	2ABL	2FFX	2AAK
2CSR	2CTC	2ABN	2ABS	2FHC	2CSA	2FFP	2FFL	2BRA	2AAB

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

It was not a great day for recording other species of birds, as very few turned up.  Not a single Mute Swan was present, and Mallard numbers were quite low, with an estimate of around 35 birds.  Just before midday, a female Mallard swam in from the Lough along with three small ducklings, these being very late chicks, which would have hatched out in late July.  Among the adult Mallards, there were a few juveniles which were just about full sized birds now.

 

I had a chat with the lady at the small outside cafe, and she said that there were Mute Swans about recently with cygnets, but they had not been seen for a few days now.  I have metal rings for Mute Swans, so perhaps this winter, if I can get a little help, I can get a few ringed.

A juvenile Common Gull arrived around 10:30, and rested on the long wooden jetty along with a few Black-headed Gulls.  The gulls never get any peace and quite around the Marina, and the Common Gull flew off after being disturbed by people.  An adult Common Gull made a brief appearance at 11:10, as did an adult Herring Gull at 11:24, and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull at 11:37.

A single Rook, and 5 Jackdaws, were the only other species to be noted today.

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From John Clarke

On Saturday past, I was forced to remain at home to 'babysit' the wife's three cats, as on the night before, she decided to take herself off to the Republic of Ireland, along with our younger son and his family.  Whilst at home working on 'birdie' stuff, I received a text message from my ringing trainer John Clarke, reporting on a Black-headed Gull -   2Y57 .  I sent a text message back to John, to say that the bird would have been ringed in Lancashire or Cumbria in England.  A second text message then arrived with me, to say that John had spotted another ringed gull, and he would email me later.  Due to this, I pushed out my previous post on Saturday evening.

The email duly arrived, and attached were photos of both birds, which has been taken on the River Bann, on the Strand Road in Coleraine, Co. Londonderry.  I immediately sent the email on to Scott Petrek, who would have been the likeliest person to obtain the ringing details of -   2Y57 , though the colour rings concerned are registered to Kane Brides.  On Tuesday evening whilst I was at work, a reply from Scott arrived.    2Y57 , had been ringed as a chick, on the 12th June 2021, at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Reserve of Martin Mere in Lancashire, England.  John's was the first re-sighting of the juvenile since being ringed.  I worked out the distance to Coleraine, as being just shy of 300 kms (297 kms / 185 miles (NW)), which is quite good for a bird that had been ringed just 1 month and 26 days beforehand.

 

Juvenile Black-headed Gull  -    2Y57   -  River Bann, Strand Road, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry  (07 Aug 2021)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 12th June 2021, at WWT Martin Mere Reserve, Lancashire, England)

(Photo Courtesy of John Clarke)

 

The second gull was no stranger to John, being the Norwegian rung Black-headed Gull -   J47T .  Scott himself would have found this one interesting, as he also spotted this bird, back on the 3rd April 2018, at the WWT Reserve of Slimbridge in Gloucestershire in England.

  J47T , had been ringed as a chick, on the 19th June 2015, at Boganesholmane in Stavanger, Norway.  The first time John recorded the gull, was on the 9th August 2018, on the jetty on the Strand Road in Coleraine, and the bird was still there on the 21st September 2018.  Having reported John's sighting through the 'Live' Norwegian Ringing Database, we learnt that this bird winters in Spain.  At the time, I thought that this was very interesting, as this bird had made a seriously big 'dog leg' visit to Northern Ireland on it's way to northern Spain, where it was recorded again on the 6th January 2019 at it's normal wintering site at Limpias.

Having been recorded back in Norway on two occasions during the summer of 2019, the gull once again appeared in Coleraine, where John spotted the bird back on the Strand Road, on the 20th August 2019.  By the 1st February 2020, it was back at Limpias, before returning to Norway for the summer of 2020.  After the breeding season ended, there were no further sightings of -   J47T  either here in Northern Ireland or in Spain during the autumn and winter months of 2020/21.  However,   J47T  was recorded back in Norway on the 10th April 2021, when sightings were reported throughout the month, as well as in May and on the 1st July 2021.

 

Coleraine is 860 kms / 534 miles (WSW) from Stavanger.  The straight line distance from Stavanger to Limpias in northern Spain is 1,840 kms / 1,142 miles (SSW), whilst the distance from Coleraine to Limpias, is roughly 1,329 kms / 825 miles (SSE).  The duration since being ringed, is now 6 years, 1 month and 19 days.

 

My thanks goes to John for these sightings, along with the photos.

 

Black-headed Gull -    J47T   -  River Bann, Strand Road, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry  (07 Aug 2021)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 19th June 2015, at Boganesholmane, Stavanger, Rogaland, Norway)

(Photo Courtesy of John Clarke)

 

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Sunday 8th August 2021

My plan for today, was to start at Carrickfergus and work my way northwards towards Glenarm and Carnlough.  I was timing the visits, beginning with a high tide which would slowly be receding as I reached Whitehead, Glynn, Sandy Bay in Larne, and then onto the latter two sites mentioned above.  As usual things do not always goes to plan.  Before I left home, we had an unexpected visitor, so my plans went 'out the window'.  By the time that I departed, I knew the tide would already be on it's way out, so I headed straight for the railway station at Glynn, to observe the gulls on Larne Lough.  I was hoping to spot any of the young Common Gulls that I ringed as chicks on Rathlin Island this summer.

 
On reaching Glynn, there were indeed lots of Common Gulls, as well as other species of gulls, a few Terns and small numbers of waders.  Many of the gulls were lying down on the banks of seaweed and I patiently waited for them to move.  Slowly scoping through everything, I eventually noted two ringed birds.  One was a Common Gull with a metal on it's right leg, but due to the distance, I had no chance of getting anything on that ring.

The second bird was a colour-ringed Oystercatcher and I easily zoomed into this one, noting the code (White) EA on it's right leg, and thought the ring on the left leg, was just a metal ring.  The bird was obviously from Iceland, and I presumed it had lost both colour-rings on the left leg.  In the past, I had recorded a colour-ringed Icelandic Oystercatcher here before, so on returning home, I looked for the code -W(EA) on my spreadsheet.  I found a match, which showed that the bird should have had a plain Lime Ring, over a plain White ring on the left leg, as well as the matching coded ring on the right leg.

I sent an email to Böddi in Iceland, who replied to say, that the ring on the left leg, was the plain White ring and not a metal.  Doh!!, it dawned on me then, the metal would have been fitted onto the right tibia and not on the tarsus.  Böddi had seen this bird during the summer in Iceland, and due to the fact that it was on it's normal summering site, realised that the plain Lime ring has fallen off.  This bird, along with it's mate, had hatched three chicks, but Böddi reckoned that all three had died.

 

Lime/White-White(EA), had been ringed as a breeding adult, on the 19th May 2017, at Auðsholt in south Iceland.  It's first ever re-sighting was made here at Glynn by Neal Warnock, on the 27th January 2018, and I first recorded this bird on the 31st December 2018.  The distance from the breeding grounds in Iceland to Glynn, is 1,329 kms / 825 miles (SE), and the duration as of today's re-sighting, is 4 years, 2 months and 20 days.  Böddi, sent a PDF File, which is not as yet fully updated with the summers sightings in Iceland (PDF File).

 

My thanks goes to Böddi for the info.

 

Oystercatcher  -  LW-W(EA)  -  Glynn, Larne Lough, Co. Antrim  (08 Aug 20210

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Breeding Adult, on the 19th May 2017, at Auðsholt, Ölfus, Árnessýsla, South Iceland)

 

I spent far longer at Glynn than I had intended to do, and by the time I reached Whitehead, the tide was well out.  Here, on a set of rocks which are only revealed at low tide, were lots of Common Terns along with a splattering of Sandwich Terns.  They were so far out, it was difficult to scope the legs, as many were hidden behind these rocks.  There were plenty of metals on show on both species, but these were no good to me.  Now and again, I'd spot a coloured ring, but the birds were too 'flighty', and flew off before I could locate them through the camera.  Patience eventually paid off, when I captured a 'dodgy' looking -   3P3 , on a Common Tern.

 

On my return home, I checked out the cr-birding website, to discover that this was one would have been ringed in the Republic of Ireland.  I sent an email to Birdwatch Ireland, but as yet, have not received a reply.  On Wednesday 11th August, I received an email from Cameron Moore who lives at Whitehead.  He had sent me a list of 7 colour-ring sightings, that he had seen at Whitehead over the last couple of weeks.  Among them, was a photo of Common Tern -   3P3 , which in itself confirms my sighting on Sunday.  At present, I'm working on these sightings, and I'm waiting on replies from the ringers concerned.  Two of my Rathlin Island Common Gulls were among the seven sighting reports, as well as a nice re-sighting of a Polish Mediterranean Gull.  I'll add Cameron's sightings to my next post, and hopefully by then, all of the ringing info will have come back.

 

Common Tern  -    3P3   -  Whitehead, Belfast Lough, Co. Antrim  (08 Aug 2021)

(Waiting for the Ringing Details)

 

Again, I spent far too long at Whitehead, as I had convinced myself there would be more rings.  Having checked out numerous Black-headed, Herring and Common Gulls, plus a few Oystercatchers, Redshanks and Turnstones, I just had to settle for the one colour-ring sighting.

 

By the time I reached Sandy Bay in Larne, the tide was fully out, but there was not that many gulls or waders about.  A small number of Sandwich Terns occupied me for a while.  Constantly on the move, they would alight onto the rocks every now and again.  Eventually, I was fairly sure that I had scoped every one of them at least once, but just two had metals only.

 

Checking out the gulls, I spotted a Black-headed Gull with a Red Darvic.  Having easily captured the code, I wondered if this was the same bird I spotted on an adjacent beach earlier this year.  Entering the code -   2HX2  onto my spreadsheet, I had a match.  I had recorded the bird here on the 10th April 2021, which was a first re-sighting.

 

  2HX2 , had been caught and ringed as a juvenile on the 20th September 2020, at Blackness Castle in Falkirk, Sterlingshire, Scotland.  The duration at the time, was 6 months and 21 days, and the distance from Falkirk, was 192 kms / 119 miles (SW).

 

It would appear, that -   2HX2  has remained at Sandy Bay throughout the summer, as Bill Guiller spotted the bird at Sandy Bay on the 17th April 2021, and Cameron Moore saw the gull there on the 9th June 2021.  The duration since being ringed, is now 10 months and 19 days.

Black-headed Gull  -    2HX2   -  Sandy Bay, Larne, Co. Antrim  (08 Aug 2021)

(Ringed as a Juvenile, on the 20th September 2020, at Blackness Castle, Falkirk, Sterlingshire, Scotland)

 

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From Graham Prole

Graham Prole from Dublin was in touch, to report the re-sighting of Common Gull -   2ACV , back on it's wintering site at Broadmeadows in Swords, Co. Dublin.    2ACV , had been ringed as a chick, on the 28th May 2010, on Big Copeland Island in County Down.  Over the years, the gull has established a long list of re-sightings.  I have often recorded the gull during the summer months at Millisle in County Down, which lies 8 kms / 5 miles (S) from Big Copeland Island.  This summer, I managed to get out to Big Copeland Island on two occaions, and on the first visit I located -   2ACV  at it's nest.  Finally, I had recorded the bird back home at it's natal colony.

The distance to Broadmeadows, is 141 kms / 87 miles (SSW), and the duration since being ringed, is now 11 years, 2 months and 11 days.  My thanks goes to Graham for this customery re-sighting.  The full re-sighting history for -   2ACV , can be read (here).

Common Gull  -    2ACV   -  Broadmeadows, Swords, Co. Dublin, Republic of Ireland  (08 Aug 2021)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 28th May 2010, on Big Copeland Island, The Copeland Islands, Co. Down)

(Photo Courtesy of Graham Prole)

 

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