Hooray - More Time...

Aaah, these posts are getting later and later.  It is now Sunday afternoon of the 26th September, and I'm now finishing this weeks post.  Last Saturday, I deliberately stayed at home to do a few chores, which also meant I had little in the way of material for this week's post, which was supposed to be published earlier in the week, but between one thing and another, I have been held back.  After replying to several emails last night, I was going to sit down and finish the post then, but on taking a headache, I could not face looking at the laptop.

 

During the week, good news arrived with me in the form of an email from Pete Potts.  Although the Black-tailed Godwits that I had recorded recently, were not ringed by Pete, the colour-rings used are registered to him.  Pete granted me access to a private online database concerning the Godwits, and this presented me with all the info I needed, which included the birds metal numbers, so as I could submit my sightings to the BTO.

 

Altogether, I recorded 6 Godwits from a new Northern Ireland project, and possibly a 7th bird which stood on one leg.  All the birds came from a catch of 24 birds in total, and were colour-ringed on the 21st April 2021, at the RSPB's Window on Wildlife Reserve, situated on the Belfast Harbour Estate.  My sightings at Whitehouse Lagoon on the 29th August, and on the Dargan mudflats on the 5th September, are fairly close to the reserve.  Pete has given me permission to add any further sightings directly onto this 'live' online database, and for this, I thank him very much.  As any other re-sighting data belongs to the ringers themselves, I have agreed not to publish any of those details.  I will still submit my future sightings by email, as these will contain photos to back up my sightings.  Any of the photos can be used by the ringers when publishing any reports, so this should suit everyone concerned.

 

Also during the week, I had my interview at work, as I wanted to drop down from a five day working week, to a four day working week.  My request was unusual, as I would still be working a five day week from Monday to Friday, but wanted to finish an hour and a half early each night.  As one of my co-workers put it, it was a win-win situation, whereby the factory would have me on all five nights, and I could get away early once things start to wind down late on at night.  My new hours would be from 7pm until 1.30am, instead of 3am.  Although, HR has not contacted me as yet, on Friday evening, I read a factory email sent to my OTL, saying my application was approved.  This will present me with a bit more time, to do all my 'birdie' stuff - happy days!!

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Antrim Marina - Sunday 19th September 2021

A Scottish contact of mine was in Northern Ireland for a couple of day's along with his wife.  Just to be known by his initials 'GB', he had a few spare hours, so I changed my now normal Monday visit, to today, so we could meet up for the first time.  Back in February, GB spotted one of Antrim Marina's resident Black-headed Gulls -   2CJT , at Lochwinnock in Scotland, and was hoping to see the bird on it's home ground.  I recorded -   2CJT  at 9:21, not long before GB arrived to meet me, and he was thrilled to see the gull at close quarters.  Why this resident gull ended up in Scotland may never be known, but I reckon it got dragged along with continental birds heading back over to mainland Europe.

On my visit today, I was on the lookout for 30 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls altogether that have been recorded here so far this autumn/winter season, with three of those having been caught and ringed here recently.  By the time I departed shortly after 1pm, 26 of the 30 had been re-sighted.  Of the three new birds to be ringed, juvenile -   2FHF  has not been seen since the day it was ringed.  On my arrival, at least 50 to 60 Black-headed Gulls were present, with numbers quickly increasing to somewhere around the 100 mark.  As the morning passed, more and more people arrived at the Marina, as well as a few paddle-boarders.  Gull numbers dropped off to nearly none at all, though a few birds perched on the roof of the Gateway Centre, while others settled down onto the distant breakwater on the edge of Lough Neagh.  No new returnees were recorded this week, and the gulls were not hungry enough for any to be caught and ringed.

GB enjoyed his visit to this tiny plot where I record the gulls, and helped to search for rings.  We will meet up again in the future, which I hope will be in mid winter, as gull numbers would be at their highest, including all of the returning wintering birds.  GB, thanks for your help, great to meet you.  It reminds me on the time when a Spanish man approached me completely by surprise.  Whilst living at home in Spain, he had read my blog on numerous occasions, and when he came to Northern Ireland on business, he came to meet me at the Marina.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Sunday 19th September 2021

2FFF	2FFX	2CSB	2ABS	2CSR	2ABL	2AAK	2AAN	2ACV
2CJT	2FFP	2FDK	2FFA	2ABK	2CSA	2FFJ	2FHH	2CSJ
2AAA	2CTC	2AAB	2FDT	2CSX	2FHC	2FFL	2FHJ

Black-headed Gulls Recorded This Autumn/Winter but Absent Today

2ABN	2BRA	2FHA	2FHF

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

Overall, today's visit to Antrim Marina was quite unusual.  Along with GB at my side helping me to read colour-rings on the Black-headed Gulls, there were plenty of distraction's, especially with folk approaching for a chat.  One person of note was Sandy McWilliams, who was with the Antrim Branch of the RSPB Members Group.  Sandy was one of my two ringing trainers back in the early 80's, and though we have met here before, it was good to see Sandy once again.  I'm sure GB enjoyed being involved with these chats, which no doubt added to the attraction for his visit to the Antrim Marina.

The highlight amongst the other birds to be recorded at the Marina today, was the appearance of a wonderful, sharp looking juvenile Mediterranean Gull, though my photo does the bird, an injustice.  Having landed on the short concrete jetty very close to us, it soon flew off to chase Black-headed Gulls which had managed to grab some bread being fed by other visitors.  I'm fairly sure GB got a good picture of the bird, but as I was zooming in, it flew off.  Over the years, the odd Med Gull has been recorded here at the Marina, but this was a first for me at this site.

 

Juvenile Mediterranean Gull  -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (19 Sep 2021)

 

An adult Common Gull was seen on several occasions throughout my visit, and it was likely to be the same bird on each sighting.  Around 9:50, a juvenile Herring Gull, and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull appeared.  The Lesser Black-back is the same bird which I have seen on several occasions of late, and is quite people friendly, unlike most others who would keep their distance.

The Mute Swan family with the six cygnets were present throughout my visit.  With today's distractions I never noted the arrival time of another adult which arrived on it's own.  On a couple of occasions, I had to step in between this one, and one from the family party, otherwise there would have been a fight between them.

Mallard numbers were around the 60 mark on my arrival, but again, due to distractions I paid no further notice on numbers.  I did look for rings on quite a number of ducks, but still nothing for quite some time now.

3 Hooded Crows, 8 Jackdaws and 2 Magpies were seen today, and a party of Long-tailed Tits could be heard on the Crack Willow tree, situated on the inland edge of the Marina.

 

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Larne Lough - Sunday 19th September 2021

Having made my weekly visit to Antrim Marina today instead of tomorrow morning, I decided to make use of a receding tide by leaving the Marina at 1pm, travelling down to Glynn, on Larne Lough.  Here, I wanted to have another bash at searching through Common Gulls, to see if I could find any of my colour-ringed birds from Rathlin Island.

A good 150 to 180 Common Gulls were present, but very few juveniles.  Scoping through them from the railway platform at Glynn Station, I eventually spotted one Common Gull standing it's right leg, which had a metal ring.  I repeatedly came back to this bird hoping it would reveal it's left leg, but alas, it eventually flew off.

 

I was also trying to record my second sighting this autumn/winter, of a colour-ringed Icelandic Oystercatcher, which had returned for the fourth winter running.  Plenty of Oystercatchers were scoped, but no sign of the bird that I was after.

 

Looking through the rest of the gulls, terns and waders, two colour-ringed Sandwich Terns were found.  One of these had a 'Red Darvic', but I was unable to capture the code on that bird, as the ring was always partly hidden by the seaweed that it stood on.  I was more fortunate with the second bird, as I just about managed to capture -   UPV .  It's hard to describe the distance involved when taking photos from the station, but my camera easily 'eats up' that distance. 

 

On returning home and checking the cr-birding website for the owner, I duly sent an email to Chris Redfern, who is the ringing co-ordinator for terns rung by members of the Natural History Society of Northumbria.  As always, Chris was very quick in his reply.

 

  UPV , had been ringed as a chick, on the 14th June 2015, on Coquet Island, just off the coast of Northumbria in NE England.  Over the years since being ringed, it has been recorded back on Coquet Island in 2017 & 2019, as well as the Ythan Estuary, Scotland (July, 2018), Tynemouth, England (August, 2018), and Findhorn, Scotland (August & September 2018).  Today's sighting here at Glynn, is the first Northern Ireland record, with a straight line distance from Coquet Island, being 276 kms / 171 miles (W).  The duration from being ringed, is now 6 years, 3 months and 5 days.  My thanks once again goes to Chris for his speedy reply, along with the ringing history for this bird.

 

By the time I had finished at Glynn, it was really pointless to go anywhere else, so I headed back home in time to watch the Chelsea match.  

 

Sandwich Tern  -    UPV   -  Glynn, Larne Lough, Co. Antrim  (19 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 14th June 2015, on Coquet Island, Northumbria, England)

 

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From GB

Having visited me at Antrim Marina, GB suggested that he might look for gulls on the coast near Larne before catching the ferry back home to Scotland.  I suggested that he should call by Sandy Bay at Larne, where colour-ringed birds are often found.  The other good reason for Sandy Bay, is that it is just around the corner from the ferry terminal.  Of late, I have tried to record a couple of Northern Ireland rung Black-headed Gulls at Sandy Bay, and in the back of my mind, I was hoping that GB would come across at least one of the two birds.  There should have been a Scottish-rung BHG there as well, which

had remained on site throughout the summer.

GB took my advice and called by Sandy Bay, which he found to be a nice spot, and duly spotted three ringed birds.  One of these was a metal-rung Oystercatcher, but he was unable to read any details on the ring.  I informed GB, that the bird was likely to be the same bird which winters at Sandy Bay every year, though I agree, it is extremely difficult to read the ring.  If the Oystercatcher is that same bird, it was ringed as a chick, on the 14th June 2014, at North Ronaldsay in the Orkney Islands in the north of Scotland.  I've successfully read the metal on three occasions - December 2015, February 2016 and November 2019.  Now that I know the bird is back again, I must try to confirm this one again, so as to increase it's longevity record.

 

The other two ringed birds were Sandwich Terns with colour-rings reading -   UVV  & (White) E27, and GB copied me in to emails to Chris Redfern and Iain Livingstone.

 

Chris as always, was very quick to reply.    UVV  was ringed as a chick, on the 12th June 2014, on Coquet Island in Northumbria, England, and this was the bird's first sighting record here in Northern Ireland.  The offical 'straight line' distance from Coquet to Sandy Bay, is 276 kms / 171 miles (W), but as with all terns, it is highly unlikely that the bird flew over mainland Britain.  The duration as of GB's sighting, was 7 years, 3 months and 7 days.

 

Previous re-sightings of   UVV , were made in May 2017 - Farne Islands, England, July 2017 - East Chevington, England, August 2017 - Coquet Island, England, August 2018 - Findhorn, Scotland, August 2019 - Blackdog, Scotland, and finally, in August & September 2020 - Findhorn, Scotland.

 

Sandwich Tern  -    UVV   -  Sandy Bay, Larne, Co. Antrim  (19 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 12th June 2014, on Coquet Island, Northumbria, England)

(Photo Courtesy of GB)

 

As yet there has been no reply from Iain Livingstone concerning (White) E27.  Iain responds to birds ringed by the Clyde Ringing Group in Scotland.  This sighting made by GB, is the first example of this ring code that I know of, having been recorded in Northern Ireland.  The tern was possibly ringed, in either Dumfries & Galloway, or in Ayrshire, with both counties facing Northern Ireland across the Irish Sea.

 

My thanks to GB, for allowing me to add his sightings to the blog, along with the photos.  It appears that GB enjoyed his visit to Northern Ireland, and I was really pleased to meet up with him at Antrim Marina.  No doubt, we will meet again in the future.

 

Sandwich Tern  -  (White)  E27  -  Sandy Bay, Larne, Co. Antrim  (19 Sep 2021)

(Waiting for Ringing Details)

(Photo Courtesy of GB)

 

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From Cameron Moore

Cameron Moore has been in touch again, with his latest batch of ring sightings, made in his home town of Whitehead situated on the coast of Belfast Lough.

Sandwich Tern -   UNZ , was spotted on the 18th September 2021, and once again Chris Redfern was also the contact for this bird.    UNZ , was ringed as a chick, on the 14th June 2014, on Inner Farne Island just off the coast of Northumbria in England.  Just two previous re-sightings have been made for this bird, both having been recorded at Port Seton in Morayshire, Scotland (August 2017, and August 2018).

 

This was the bird's first ever sighting in Northern Ireland, and the 'straight line' distance from Inner Farne to Whitehead, was given as - 273 kms / 169 miles (WSW), by the BTO.  The duration since being ringed, is 7 years, 3 months and 4 days.

 

Sandwich Tern  -    UNZ   -  Whitehead, Belfast Lough, Co. Antrim  (18 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 14th June 2014, on Inner Farne Island, The Farne Islands, Northumbria, England)

(Photo Courtesy of Cameron Moore)

 

The second Sandwich Tern spotted by Cameron, turned out to be a bird which he had recorded before at Whitehead, and is a sighting record that I found especially pleasing due to it's age.  The bird was metal-rung only, as an un-sexed adult, on the 19th July 2000, at Seal Sands in Teesmouth, England.  On the 21st August 2011, the bird was 'controlled' (captured), by the Grampian Ringing Group, on the Ythan Estuary in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and was fitted with the colour-ring -   EZD .  At that time, the duration from the original ringing date was 11 years, 1 month and 2 days.

Cameron's first sighting record of -   EZD , was made at Whitehead on the 5th September 2018.  His latest sighting made on the 16th September 2021, takes the duration to 21 years, 1 month and 28 days, and considering it was an adult when ringed, makes this bird a nice 'oldie'.  The 'straight line' distance from Seel Sands to Whitehead, is 291 kms / 180 miles (W), and the distance from the Ythan Estuary to Whitehead, is 367 kms / 228 miles (SW).

Other re-sightings include :- Girdleness, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (August 2011), Scolt Head, Norfolk, England (May 2017, and Ferney Ness, East Lothian, Scotland (August 2020).

 

Sandwich Tern  -    EZD   -  Whitehead, Belfast Lough, Co. Antrim  (16 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Adult, on the 19th July 2000, at Seel Sands, Teesmouth, Stockton-on-Tees, England)

(Photo Courtesy of Cameron Moore)

 

Also spotted on the seafront at Whitehead on the 16th September 2021, was a juvenile Herring Gull, rung -   J27:M .  Having contacted Mark Fitzpatrick who is the ringing co-ordinator on the Isle of Man, he replied to say that the gull was ringed as a chick, on the 26th June 2021, on the Calf of Man.  The duration as of Cameron's sighting, was 2 months and 21 days, and the distance from the Calf to Whitehead being 97 kms / 60 miles (NW).

 

Juvenile Herring Gull  -    J27:M   -  Whitehead, Belfast Lough, Co. Antrim  (16 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 26th June 2021, on the Calf of Man, Isle of Man)

(Photo Courtesy of Cameron Moore)

 

On the 19th September 2021, Cameron re-sighted a Polish-rung Mediterranean Gull -   PPN5 , having first recorded the bird last month (3rd August 2021) - read the blog post (here), concerning that sighting.    PPN5  was ringed as a chick, on the 20th May 2014, with the duration now increasing to 7 years, 3 months and 30 days.

 

Mediterranean Gull  -    PPN5   -  Whitehead, Belfast Lough, Co. Antrim  (19 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 20th May 2014, at Rybical, Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Poland)

(Photo Courtesy of Cameron Moore)

 

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Dutch Sannie...

Another late post this week, is partly due to a flurry of emails concerning my recent Godwit sightings.  I have received details for three of my six sightings, but these fall way below the standard for normal ringing recoveries.  This does not surprise me, as the three birds listed, were definitely ringed by a ringer with whom I've had dealings with before.  He is well funded to undertake ringing projects, but clearly cannot understand the consequences of such activities.  Colour-ring sightings are being reported, and it seems that the administration side for these projects are just about non existent.  Two weeks ago, I spent the guts of two cold hours trying to photograph the Godwits and their rings, and what for!!!  Worse still, is that those rings are registered to another ringer, who has taken 'flak', as he put it, by the International Wader Study Group.  I've learnt in the past, this ringer does what he wants, when he wants, regardless of correct procedures.

 

This weeks, weekly visit to Antrim Marina, will be made tomorrow morning (Sunday), instead of my now customary Monday morning visits.  One of my Scottish contacts is in Northern Ireland for a couple of days, and he will come to meet me at the Marina.  Back in February, he recorded -   2CJT , at Lochwinnock in Renfrewshire.    2CJT , is a Black-headed Gull, which I consider to be a year round resident at the Marina, so goodness knows why it took off to Scotland, unless dragged across by returning birds from mainland Europe.  Preferring to be called by his initials 'GB', he is hoping to see -   2CJT  on it's home ground.    2CJT , is normally one of the first to be sighted each week, but last Monday, the gull was late arriving, being the 15th of the 21 birds recorded.  I'm looking forwards to putting another face to a name.

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Antrim Marina - Monday 13th September 2021

When I arrived at Antrim Marina this morning, just 7 Black-headed Gulls were present, all perched on the end of the long wooden jetty.  As I was lifting my telescope from the boot of my car, more gulls flew in, and in no time at all, numbers had risen to around 60 birds.  On today's visit, I was on the lookout for 30 colour-ringed individuals, having recorded another returnee last week, as well as catching and ringing another three Black-headed Gulls - 1 adult, and 2 juveniles.

Overall numbers slowly increased to around 100 birds by 10:30, after which time, the total began to decrease.  No new returnees were recorded today, which was not helped, as many of the birds consistently perched on the roof of the gateway centre.  By the time of my departure at midday, 21 colour-rings had been read, with 9 birds previously recorded, being absent today.

 

It was a fairly mild morning, and though some gulls were 'biting', I could not catch any more to add to my total.  Most of these were juveniles which were obviously hungry, with older birds keeping their distance.  One Black-headed Gull, was clearly a new visitor here, having a badly twisted left leg.  This adult did not shy away, and confidently nibbled away at the bread that I was holding in my hand.  I was tempted to catch it, and fit a colour-ring only, but changed my mind as it has enough to worry about.

 

Of the three birds caught and ringed last week, juvenile   2FHJ  & adult   2FHH , were recorded today.  The third, juvenile   2FHF  did not appear, but hopefully it will be recorded over the next few weeks.  Six of the 18 gulls which I caught and ringed last winter, were never seen again after being ringed, and have not been reported elsewhere.  Two of those were adults, which may well have been passing through when caught, and it will be interesting to see if they put in an appearance this winter.  The other four were juvenile birds.  Juveniles are known to wander widely, so it is possible that they too were just passing through, though some may have died, as around two-thirds do not survive their first winter in life.

 

Three others that were ringed last winter, were recorded on either side of the second 'Covid Lockdown', but have not been recorded so far this winter.  The remaining 9 birds are being recorded on a regular basis so far.

 

Below is a today's photo of -   2FHH , which was ringed here last week.

 

Black-headed Gull  -    2FHH   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (13 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Adult, on the 6th September 2021, at Antrim Marina)

 

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Moday 13th September 2021

2ABK	2ACV	2CSX	2CTC	2CSA	2ABS	2FHJ
2FHH	2FFX	2FFF	2FFL	2FDK	2AAN	2FFA
2CJT	2ABL	2AAK	2ABN	2AAB	2CSJ	2FDT

Black-headed Gulls Recorded This Autumn/Winter but Absent Today

2AAA	2BRA	2CSB	2CSR	2FFJ	2FFP	2FHA	2FHC	2FHF

During today's visit, I noticed a sign that I had not seen before - Please Do Not Feed The Gulls.  The sign says it affects their health and encourages them to nest away from their natural habitat.  Health wise, bread certainly helps to keep them alive during the winter, especially when natural food is hard to come by, though this is not the point which the local council are trying to put across.

The second point, is the choice of nesting site made by the gulls.  Whether they are, or not fed, Black-headed Gulls will always be present at Antrim Marina, and this statement made by the council has left me wondering - did a few pairs nest on the roof of the 'Gateway Centre' during the summer?  Going back to when the 'Gateway Centre' was under construction, I stated in my blog, that the flat roof could be a big mistake.  Locally, the Black-headed Gulls nest on the nearby 'former' Torpedo Platform, a site used to test out Torpedo's during World War 2.  The flat roof of the 'Gateway Centre' presents an ideal nesting site, high enough and safe enough from predators.  Elsewhere around Antrim, gulls are already roof-nesting at the Tesco Warehouse on the Kilbegs Industrial Estate, and on a derelict building behind the town's Aldi Supermarket.

A pitched roof would have been a far better idea, and for me, it would have made 'Ring Reading' slightly easier too.  I also need to feed the gulls in order to catch and ring individuals to add to my project.  Even at times, when I cannot catch them, by feeding the gulls I can keep them 'sweet' and gain their confidence to approach closely.

 

 

On Thursday 16th September 2021, I received an email from Kate McAllister, who would visit Antrim Marina from time to time.  Earlier in the day, Kate recorded six colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls, two of which were absent during my visit three days earlier -   2AAA  &   2FFP .  Kate's sightings of -   2FFP , as well as -   2FFL , were firsts for her personally.  My thanks goes to Kate for these.  Random visits like this are good, as an observer could record a ringed bird which could be passing through between my weekly visits, and would otherwise be missed.

Sightings made by Kate McAllister on Thursday 16th September 2021

2CSJ	2ABK	2AAK	2AAA	2FFL	2FFP

Black-headed Gulls  -    2AAA   &    2FFP   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (16 Sep 2021)

(Both Ringed as Adults, on the 12th November 2012, and on the 21st December 2020, at Antrim Marina)

(Photo Courtesy of Kate McAllister)

 

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

Having been informed of a pair of Mute Swans that had two cygnets, I recorded them for the first time on my previous visit, and today they were on the slipway when I arrived.  At 9:50, the other family, which normally sees six cygnets along with their mother, swam in from the Lough.  The first pair along with their two youngsters made a hasty retreat up-river.

 

With all six cygnets on the slipway, I used them as decoys to try and catch a couple of Black-headed Gulls, but had no luck.  At 11:15, the family headed back out onto the Lough.  The pair along with their two cygnets came back down-river at 11:40.

Just two Mallards were present when I arrived this morning, with numbers quickly increasing to around 80 birds.  As usual, most were checked for rings.

Interestingly, no other species of gull appeared today, and the only other species to be recorded were 8 Jackdaws, a pair of Magpies and a adult Hooded Crow.

 

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Saturday 11th September 2021

With another late start today, I headed off to Belfast, visiting Whitehouse Lagoon (twice), Kinnegar Beach and the Dargan mudflats.  Despite viewing hundreds of legs, only two colour-ringed birds were spotted.

The first one was a juvenile Sandwich Tern.  Having scoped the distant bird, I had difficulties trying to photograph the ring.  The youngster was in the centre of a pack which constantly moved about, and I kept losing the bird.  Resorting to using my telescope on numerous occasions, I finally got a clear view to take a picture of the ring.  Looking at the few photos taken, I had captured the code - (White) J2.V.

On returning home, I went onto the cr-birding website, to find the project concerned.  I was delighted to discover that my juvenile 'Sannie' had been ringed in the Netherlands.  Not only that, the code which I had recorded, was shown as an example in the project description - https://cr-birding.org/node/2210.

 

I sent an email to the address given, but did not receive a reply.  Later during the week, I decided to submit my sighting through the BTO, and they subsequently contacted Ruben Fijn, who quickly replied to supply the ringing details.  (White) J2.V, was ringed as a chick, on the 10th June 2021, at Slijkplaat Island, which is situated just to the south-west of Rotterdam.  After being ringed, it was recorded locally on four occasions up to the 16th July 2021, before appearing here on Kinnegar Beach.

 

I am waiting on an offical recovery from the BTO, but I estimate the distance as being around 736 kms / 457 miles (NW), from Slijkplaat in a straight line, though it is highly unlikely that the bird has flown over the British Mainland.  The duration since being ringed, was 3 months and 1 day.  A nice sighting, and well worth the effort put in trying to obtain the ring code.

Sandwich Tern  -  (White)  J2.V  -  Kinnegar Beach, Belfast Lough, Co. Down  (11 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 10th June 2021, at Slijkplaat in the Netherlands)

 

My second ring sighting, was now the third Northern Ireland record of a Scottish-rung Black-headed Gull - (White) 2BDN.  (White) 2BDN, was ringed as a chick, on the 3rd June 2018, at the Broad Law colony situated in the Moorfoot Hills, in the Borders Region of Scotland.

 

The first sighting of - (White) 2BDN, was made by Suzanne Belshaw, on the 23rd July 2019, at the Sprucefield Shopping Centre car park just outside of Lisburn in County Antrim.  The photo taken by Suzanne, clearly shows the remaining juvenile feathers on the gull.

 

The second sighting was made by me, on the 2nd February 2020, when I came across the bird at Whitehouse Lagoon, which is only a short distance away from my sighting today on the mudflats at Dargan.

 

The gull was then reported back in Scotland on the 16th July 2021, when a William Barber spotted the bird at Seton Burn in East Lothian.

 

Today's sighting is the fourth record overall, and the distance from Broad Law, is 221 kms / 137 miles (WSW), with the duration since ringing, being 3 years, 3 months and 8 days.

 

On Sunday 12th September, I covered the coast from Larne to Carrickfergus.  Though I checked a good number of gulls and waders, especially at Glynn, not a single ring was recorded.

 

Black-headed Gull  -  (White)  2BDN  -  Dargan Mudflats, Belfast Lough, Belfast  (11 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 3rd June 2018, at Broad Law, Moorfoot Hills, Borders Region, Scotland)

 

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From David Nixon

David Nixon has been in touch concerning two Herring Gull sightings which he made on the 11th September 2021.  The first bird was a juvenile rung -   K09:M .  Mark Fitzpatrick, who is the ringing co-ordinator for the Isle of Man birds, replied with the details for both gulls.

  K09:M , was ringed as a chick, on the 3rd July 2021, on the Calf of Man.  David's sighting was a first since being ringed, with the duration being, 2 months and 8 days.  The BTO gave the distance as being 71 kms / 44 miles (WNW).  Unfortunately, David was unable to get a photo, as the bird decided to lay down.

No photographic problems with the second Herring Gull, rung -   T7UH .  The gull was ringed as a chick, on the 1st July 2012, on the Calf of Man.  The three previous re-sightings, had all been made on the Calf, in July 2017, July 2018, and on the 26th May 2019.  The duration since being ringed, is now 9 years, 2 months and 10 days, with the distance being the same as that of   K09:M  above.

 

My thanks, as always goes to David, for these sighting reports, along with the photo.

 

Herring Gull  -    T7UH   -  Dundrum Inner Bay, Dundrum, Co. Down  (11 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as a )

(Photo Courtesy of David Nixon)

 

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A Portuguese Bonus...

Another rewarding weekend of ring reading has passed, with a few re-sightings of birds of old, plus a number of new sightings.  The re-sighting of a Portuguese Lesser Black-backed Gull, was a huge and unexpected record.  Another three Godwits, from a new NI project were recorded, adding to the three which I recorded last weekend.

My weekly visits to Antrim Marina are going really well, as the overall total for colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls that were ringed on the site, is steadily approaching the 30 mark.  During my latest visit, the gulls were 'biting' again, and using the cygnets as cover, a few bits of bread saw me catching three new birds to add to my ringing project here.

An interesting article appeared in the Belfast Telegraph on Thursday afternoon concerning a new project which is due to start on Rathlin Island.  This project, which will receive 4.5 million pounds in funding, is aimed at eradicating Rats & Ferrets from the island.  It came as quite a surprise to me, as I did not know that there was such a big problem concerning these animals.  Apparently, they are being blamed for decimating the islands seabird populations, which has seen reduced numbers of breeding puffins, as well as losing breeding species such as Manx Shearwaters and Storm Petrels.

 

Although I have yet to see a Rat or a Ferret on the island, could these be the cause of the Common Gulls having had two disastrous breeding seasons in a row?  Quizzing one of my Scottish contacts about their breeding Common Gulls, they have just had an excellent breeding season, and it was suggested, that otters may be the problem on Rathlin.  I was not so sure about that idea, as I've never seen an Otter on Rathlin, and they would be hard to miss.

 

In time, it will be interesting to see if this new project benefits the Common Gulls and other seabirds. Rathlin is a big island, therefore, it will be a huge task to accomplish full eradication.  The newspaper article can be read here :- Belfast Telegraph.

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Antrim Marina - Monday 6th September 2021

Today saw the 5th of my weekly visits to Antrim Marina for this autumn and winter season, recording colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls here.  Having recorded the return of -   2FDT  last week, my overall total for colour-ringed gulls had increased to 26 birds altogether.  After heavy overnight rain, this morning saw a heavy drizzle, which soon passed away to leave drier, brighter conditions.

Around 60 Black-headed Gulls were already present when I arrived at 09:15.  Scoping through the gulls, I recorded 12 colour-ringed birds by 09:24, with the sixth bird -   2CSX , being another returnee.  I knew as soon as I saw the bird, it's been a while since I had last seen it.  On returning home and checking through its re-sightings, I last saw this one here at the Marina, on the 23rd November 2020, after which time, I wondered if it had gone to the former Waterworks at Cliftonville in Belfast.  Normally, Suzanne Belshaw and myself would visit the waterworks during the winter months, but the 'Coronavirus Restrictions' prevented us visiting due to the distance from our homes.

 

  2CSX , was caught and ringed as a juvenile/1st winter bird, here at Antrim Marina, on the 3rd December 2018.  Today's sighting, is the 29th record for the bird, with all but two sightings having been made here at Antrim Marina.  The two exceptions, were of -   2CSX  being spotted at the former Belfast Waterworks, by Suzanne Belshaw, on the 18th October 2019, and then on the 28th September 2020.  The duration since ringing, is now 2 years, 9 months and 3 days.

 

The re-sighting of -   2CSX , now takes this winter's total to 27 individuals altogether.    Today, also saw me catching and ringing three new birds, so next week, I have a target of 30 to look out for, as well as further returnees.

 

Mid morning saw numbers reaching the one hundred plus mark for the Black-headed Gulls, though the number had dropped down slightly by the time of my departure.  With the children now back at school, it was noticeably quieter around the Marina during today's visit, and no paddle boarders this week.  Surely, gull numbers will increase fairly soon, and there have been times in the past, where BHG numbers reach the 300 mark, which is excellent for such a small strip of land.  My final re-sighting during this visit was made at 11:50, when the appearance of -   2BRA , took the overall total for this visit to 22 colour-ringed gulls, whilst 5 previously recorded birds were absent.

 

Black-headed Gull  -    2CSX   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (06 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as a Juvenile/1st Winter Bird, on the 3rd December 2018, at Antrim Marina)

 

On Monday the 16th August 2021, I commented on just how hungry the gulls were, with many coming quite close to me to feed on the brown bread that was being offered.  Such a hungry 'mob', is quite unusual here for this time of the year, and had I, had rings at the ready, I may have caught a gull or two.  During my next two visits, despite having rings at the ready this time, the gulls were not 'biting', though this may have been due to the quite good weather conditions.

 

On today's visit, the gulls were once again going crazy for food, and I wondered if this was due to heavy over-night rain, followed by a drizzly start to the day.  Later in the morning, although conditions had improved, leading to a drier and warmer day, I decided to chance catching one or two gulls.  11am had passed, and as ring re-sightings were beginning to fizzle out, my attempts at catching gulls, saw me catching three new birds - 2 juveniles and 1 adult.

 

The first, a juvenile has now been rung -   2FHF , the second, an un-sexed adult -   2FHH , and the third, another juvenile -   2FHJ  (see photo below).  Juveniles are always good to catch, as they are of known age.  Although it is still early autumn, there is a good chance that these juveniles were not raised locally.  Here in Northern Ireland, we have already recorded a few juveniles, which have already flown long distances from their natal colonies.  Another more recent example, is of a juvenile spotted by David Sterling on Kinnegar Beach.  Recorded on the 1st September 2021, this youngster has travelled from the West Midlands in England, and not so long ago, John Clarke spotted a Scottish-rung juvenile in Coleraine in County Londonderry.  An account of David Stirling's sighting can be read below.

 

The next few weeks should see the arrival of gulls from mainland Europe and Scandinavia, so there is a great opportunity for some of those to appear at Antrim Marina.  At the Marina, you never know the origins of these birds, so after being ringed and then re-sighted in other countries is a big bonus.  One such bird -   2FDJ , was spotted in Estonia last April, and if all goes well, should return to Antrim Marina, somewhere around mid-October - I cannot wait for that one.

 

Juvenile Black-headed Gull  -    2FHJ   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (06 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as a Juvenile, on the 6th September 2021, at Antrim Marina)

 

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Monday 6th September 2021

2FFF	2CJT	2FDK	2FFL	2FFP	2CTC	2CSA	2CSX
2FDT	2ABK	2CSB	2AAN	2FFJ	2ABL	2AAA	2ABN
2AAB	2FHC	2FHA	2ABS	2FFA	2BRA

Black-headed Gulls Recorded This Winter but Absent Today

2ACV	2CSR	2AAK	2CSJ	2FFX

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

At Antrim Marina, I always have a chat with folk interested in what I'm doing.  Their attention is usually triggered by the plates on my car, which reads 'Environmental Study Vehicle'.  The Antrim & Newtownabbey County Council, insist that I display these plates, in order to gain access to the front car park at the Marina.  After explaining what I'm doing, this usually triggers talk about what some folk have seen, which quite often includes the Mute Swans.

After resuming my weekly visits to the Marina at the beginning of August, I was made aware of a Mute Swan with six cygnets - which I did eventually record, but after another couple of weeks, I was informed of a second pair with two cygnets.  This pair, I hadn't seen, until my arrival this morning.  There they were, resting on the small sandy beach beside the long wooden jetty.  Soon afterwards, they left and headed up-river.  I had meant to take a photo, but initially, I was too concerned at reading rings on the Black-headed Gulls already present.

Just after 10am, a single adult swan, swan in from the Lough and rested up on the slipway.  Checking for rings, I offered the bird a slice of bread, which was a big 'mistake' - no I did not really mind.  The bird continually sat with me at my car every time I returned to take a sit down.  It kept on grabbing lumps of my arm with it's beak, as if to say feed me more.  Even as I departed at midday, I had to 'shoo' the bird away from the car.

At 10:20, the female Mute Swan arrived in from the Lough with her six cygnets.  They remained until just before I departed.  Later in the morning, I met a lady by the name of Graine, and we had a very interesting conversation.  Living locally, Graine would frequently walk alongside the river, and stated the the family with six cygnets, originally had a seventh sibling.  Fascinated by what I am doing at the Marina, she is going to keep watch on the gulls too.

 

Mallard numbers were already quite high on my arrival with 50 to 60 birds present, slowly increasing to around 80 to 90 birds altogether.  In my last post, I made mention of the missing duckling, which appeared to be the only survivor of three late season chicks.  Well - it's still alive.  Whilst sitting in my car with the door open, this little duckling appeared and walked over to me, as if to say 'hello my friend'.  Grabbing a slice of brown bread, the little bird quite happily took it's fill from my hand.

 

A pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a single adult Herring Gull, were already present on my arrival.  One of the Lesser Black-backed's soon flew off, but the remaining two birds stayed throughout my visit.  Just the one adult Common Gull today, which was a late visitor at 11:20.

 

9 Jackdaws, 1 Magpie and a male Grey Wagtail, were the only other species noted.

 

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Saturday 4th September 2021

With a late start to the day, I decided to work the coast closer to home, beginning at Waterfoot and finishing at Glynn on Larne Lough.  With the tide receding, I was on the lookout for any of my Rathlin Island Common Gulls, especially juveniles.  Waterfoot was quickly checked, as there were very few gulls about, so it was on to Carnlough Bay.

At Carnlough, a fairly decent number of gulls and waders were scoped through, and eventually I spotted an Icelandic Oystercatcher which has returned for another winter.  Ringed, Orange over Orange, White(AA), this is the sixth year that I have now recorded the bird wintering here.

OO-W(AA), was ringed as an un-sexed breeding adult, on the 10th May 2016, at Brautarholt in south-west Iceland.  My first ever sighting of this bird was made on the 10th August 2016, and all Northern Ireland sightings have occurred on the beach at Carnlough.  Having reported my latest sighting to Boddi, I was sent a PDF File, which probably does not include sightings in Iceland over the past summer.  All summer sightings of Oystercatcher in Iceland, are updated over the autumn and winter months.  The distance from Brautarholt to Carnlough Bay, is 1,355 kms / 842 miles (SE), and the duration since being ringed, is 5 years, 3 months and 25 days.  It was good to 'chalk up' another returning bird (PDF).

 

Oystercatcher  -  OO-W(AA)  -  Carnlough Beach, Carnlough, Co. Antrim  (04 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Breeding Adult, on the 10th May 2016, at Brautarholt, SW Iceland)

Next stop was at Glenarm Harbour, where I found above average numbers of both Black-headed and Herring Gulls, with a handful of Common Gulls and a few Oystercatchers.  I was hopeful for at least one ring here, but have scoped for a while from the harbour wall, nothing was found.

Sandy Bay in Larne, was my penultimate stop for the afternoon.  I have been here recently, hoping to re-sight two Black-headed Gulls from Adam's former NI project, but neither bird was present.  One of the two, is suspected to breed on nearby Blue Circle Island, but usually spends it's winter at Ballyholme in County Down, so perhaps it is there now.

Throwing bits of bread out from the window of my car, I soon had a good number of Black-headed and Herring Gulls around me, including my closest sighting so far of a Scottish-rung BHG.  Today' sighting of -   2HX2 , is now the sixth entry for this gull on my spreadsheet.  The bird was ringed as a juvenile at Blackness Castle in Falkirk, on the 20th September 2020.  The first re-sighting was made by me, here at Sandy Bay, on the 10th April 2021.  Further sightings during late April, June and July, means the bird remained at Sandy Bay throughout the summer.  The distance from Falkirk in Scotland, to Sandy Bay, is 192 kms / 119 miles (SW).  The duration, is now 11 months and 15 days since being ringed.

 

Black-headed Gull  -    2HX2   -  Sandy Bay, Larne, Co. Antrim  (04 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as a juvenile/1st winter bird, on the 20th September 2020, at Blackness Castle, Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland)

 

My final, and a very prolonged visit, was made at Glynn, which overlooks Larne Lough.  The tide was well out by now, but there were hundreds of gulls about, with Common Gulls easily outnumbering all others.  Common Gulls are a main target for me, because of my colour-ringing project on Rathlin Island, but today I could hardly believe my eyes, as numbers of this species easily reached the 300 mark.  I have never seen so many here before, and surely there had to be rings about.

Despite the birds being tiny specks in the distance, I constantly scoped through them from the railway platform of Glynn station.  Had I spotted a colour-ring, I could easily walk part of the distance and then use my camera.  Many birds were bathing in the freshwater outlet, which flows into Larne Lough, so it was a waiting game for the gulls to rest up on the shore.

Not knowing what time I had arrived here, I must have stayed for well over two hours, and, 'shock/horror', not one colour-ring was spotted on anything.  Even scoping every Oystercatcher, I could not find the colour-ringed bird from Iceland that I recorded the return of here, on the 8th August, or the colour-ringed Common Gull that I re-sighted here last Saturday.  Two metal-rung birds were seen, one a BHG, and the other a Common Gull, but at this site, there was no chance to capture the numbers.

A disappointing visit at Glynn today, but it would be worthwhile to keep checking, especially if Common Gull numbers continue to reach this level.  On the 10th October 2020, I recorded a colour-ringed Common Gull from Norway, here at Glynn, so I'm keen to see if that bird returns here over the coming weeks.

 

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Sunday 5th September 2021

Today, I timed my outing to coincide with the tide beginning to recede, so I departed from home at 12:45 in the early afternoon.  Today's main targets, was Whitehouse Lagoon, Whiteabbey Beach and the mudflats at Connswater on the Belfast Harbour Estate, with visits to the mudflats at Dargan and Kinnegar Beach.

 
Reaching Whitehouse Lagoon first, the tide was still quite high here, as it takes a while to drain through the concrete pipes which run underneath the Motorway and into Belfast Lough.  I was especially looking for the return of a Polish-rung Black-headed Gull.  At this point, very few gulls were on site, but even at that, there was no sign of my target.

Moving on to the beach at nearby Whiteabbey, I was targeting two gulls, a Black-headed Gull from Adam McClure's former NI project, and a Common Gull belonging to Shane Wolsey's former Copeland Island project, both birds having been regularly sighted here in the past.  On my arrival, not much of the beach was showing, but gulls were steadily coming in as the tide went at.

 

I never got the Common Gull, but I did get the Black-headed Gull -   2CPN .  The last sighting of -   2CPN , was made here at Whiteabbey Beach, when spotted by Suzanne Belshaw on the 30th August 2020.  The 'Covid Restrictions' imposed in early January, would have prevented further sightings of this, and indeed, many other colour-ringed birds.

 

  2CPN , was ringed as a chick, on the 16th June 2017, on the RSPB Blue Circle Island Reserve on Larne Lough, Co. Antrim.  Today's sighting is the 15th record for the bird to go onto my spreadsheet.  It has been recorded at Whiteabbey every year since being ringed, and sightings cover the months from August through to February.  No sightings have ever been made during the months of March to July.  Whiteabbey Beach, lies 19 kms / 11 miles (SSW) of Larne Lough, and the duration is now 4 years, 2 months and 20 days since being ringed.  Great to know, that this gull is still alive and well.

 

Black-headed Gull  -    2CPN   -  Whiteabbey Beach, Belfast Lough, Co. Antrim  (05 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 16th June 2017, at the RSPB Blue Circle Island Reserve, Larne Lough, Co. Antrim)

 

I spent quite a while at Whiteabbey, as more and more gulls and indeed a small number of waders began to arrive in.  At one point, I had a metal-rung Herring Gull directly below me, as I was positioned against the railings of the sea-wall.  Zooming into that bird with my camera, I noticed that the metal ring was extremely overlapped, with the ring-butts nowhere close to meeting.  All I could get on the ring, was the final digit, which was a '  5 ', and I could read '  SW7 ' as part of the address.  I was hoping for the bird to walk about, which would present me with a chance to capture the whole ring number, but alas, it eventually flew off.

 

Constantly scoping through the gulls, I caught sight of a Lesser Black-backed Gull, whose Darvic ring disappeared as a wave came in.  As the water receded, I could see that the Darvic was Black, which placed me into a moment of excitement - was this the Portuguese -   F461 .  Quickly grabbing my camera, I zoomed into the ring first, whilst I would normally take a full picture of the bird first, and then zoom into the ring.  

 

What happened next, meant I just had a stroke of luck.  A very large dog, which along with it's owner and nowhere near the gulls began barking.  Despite their distance, this was enough to frighten all the birds, with many settling onto the waters of Belfast Lough.  I now took a look at the photo, and my Lesser Black-backed, was indeed -   F461 .  My last sighting of this gull, was made on the 6th October 2019, at the nearby Whitehouse Lagoon, and today's re-sighting was my sixth in total for this bird.

  F461 , was ringed as an un-sexed adult, on the 18th November 2014, at the Quinta de Marim Refuge Centre, at Olhäo in southern Portugal.  The refuge centre looks after sick and injured animals, with rehabilitated gulls being ringed before release.  My first ever sighting of the gull, was made here at Whiteabbey Beach, on the 10th October 2015 :-

10th October 2015 - Whiteabbey Beach - 0y  10m  22d.

27th August 2016 - Whiteabbey Beach - 1y  9m  9d.

15th October 2016 - Whiteabbey Beach - 1y  10m  27d.

30th September 2018 - Whitehouse Lagoon - 3y  10m  12d.

6th October 2019 - Whitehouse Lagoon - 4y  10m  18d.

5th September 2021 (today) - Whiteabbey Beach - 6y  9m  18d.

The distance from Olhäo to Whiteabbey Beach, is 1,965 kms / 1,220 miles (N).  Over the years, between my re-sightings, this gull has been re-sighted back in Portugal.  I have sent an email concerning my latest sighting, but no reply has been received as yet.  Once I do get a reply, I will publish the updated PDF File.

This re-sighting at Whiteabbey was a welcomed bonus, and again, how lucky was I to photograph the ring first!!

 

Lesser Black-backed Gull  -    F461   -  Whiteabbey Beach, Belfast Lough, Co. Antrim  (05 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Adult, on the 18th November 2014, at Quinta de Marim, Olhäo, Portugal)

 

With no sign of -   F461  returning onto Whiteabbey Beach, I went back to Whitehouse Lagoon.  The lagoon was now half empty and there were now loads of gulls and waders.  After a long session of scoping, not a single ring of any sort was spotted, so I departed for the mudflats at Dargan, which are also quite close to Whitehouse Lagoon.

 

Once again, there were plenty of gulls and waders, and it did not take long to scope my first colour-ringed bird, a Black-tailed Godwit.  It had the same type of ring combination, as the three Black-tailed Godwits that I recorded at Whitehouse Lagoon last weekend.  Worse still, I also spotted another two of these Godwits here, taking the total to three.

 

I say worse still, as having emailed Richard de Feu, last weekend to see if he knew who owned these type of rings, Richard replied to say that these birds had been ringed in Northern Ireland, and the rings are registered to a Peter Potts.  This immediately sent alarm bells ringing in my head, as I suspect that the rings have been used by another ringer, and not Pete.  I hope I'm wrong, but the ringer concerned, was one I have had a row with in the past, as he did not want me to submit my sightings of his birds to the BTO.  

 

What exactly, is the point of colour-ringing birds, if you do not want the re-sightings?  The whole idea of colour-ringing birds is to generate re-sightings.  I'm a ringer myself, as well as a 'Ring Reader', and I know only too well, that as such, I'm responsible to provide observers with the ringing and re-sighting histories for the birds that they report, and to do that as quickly as possible.  Not only do I look after my own ringing projects, but I track down the owners of other ringed birds, that are reported to me by other birdwatchers in general.

 

I now have six Godwits on the spreadsheet, with no ringing details at all.  It may take a while, but I hope these can be sorted eventually.

 

Black-tailed Godwit  -  BN-O(=)  -  Dargan Mudflats, Belfast Lough, Belfast  (05 Sep 2021)

(Waiting for the Ringing Details)

 

Black-tailed Godwit  -  LB-O(=)  -  Dargan Mudflats, Belfast Lough, Belfast  (05 Sep 2021)

(Waiting for the Ringing Details)

 

Black-tailed Godwit  -  YB-O(=)  - Dargan Mudflats, Belfast Lough, Belfast  (05 Sep 2021)

(Waiting for the Ringing Details)

 

A distant colour-ringed Redshank was also scoped.  The bird was in the middle of a large group of feeding Godwits and Redshanks, and every time I zoomed in with my camera, I could not locate the bird.  Several attempts at scoping and then zooming in with the camera were made, but I eventually lost sight of the bird altogether.  In the past, I have recorded a colour-ringed Redshank here, but that bird had a colour-flag, whilst today's bird appeared to have plain-coloured rings.

 

After scoping a large number of gulls here on the Dargan mudflats, no more rings were spotted, so I drove on round to the beach at Kinnegar on the southern side of Belfast Lough.  By now, the tide was just about fully out, with gulls and waders, plus a small number of terns, being tiny dots in the distance.  Scoping everything closer to me, no rings were spotted, so I then finished my afternoon off at the Connswater mudflats.  This site has been the scene for sightings of Dutch, Norwegian, Polish and German colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls, as well as two from Adam's former Northern Ireland project.  Three colour-ringed Oystercatchers belonging to two Scottish projects, have also been recorded here, but today, not a single one of them was recorded.

 

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From David Stirling

An email from David Stirling on Wednesday 1st September 2021, created a bit of confusion.  David had been at Kinnegar Beach on the southern shore of Belfast Lough, looking for a 'rarity' in the form of a Bonaparte's Gull, when he spotted a juvenile gull which was colour-ringed.  Having taken a photo with his phone, he reported the sighting to Adam McClure, who then re-directed David into my direction.

David reported, the ring - 2HFH, appeared to be blue in colour, though in the photo, it looked to be black.  If the ring was blue, than -   2HFH  was indeed a ring which belonged to me.  Having ran the code through my spreadsheet, I did not have a match.  I then automatically assumed, that the gull had been ringed by members of the Copeland Bird Observatory, who hold a small number of my colour-rings, although I did not know which codes they had despite of a previous request for a list of the codes that they were holding.

The -   2H**  series of rings were originally used on the Copeland Islands by Shane Wolsey during his former Common Gull project which ran from 2009 until 2014.  Having received the remaining colour-rings from Shane, I decided that those that were left from the series, would continue to be used on the Copeland Islands.  I actually used 19 of these on Big Copeland Island this summer, and I know 2 others were used on Lighthouse Island, which is home to the Copeland Bird Observatory.

 

Whilst at work on that Wednesday evening, a second email from David, suggested that the ring was black and not blue, as he had compared the colour-ring with other photos.  After getting up on Thursday morning, and having read David's second email, I went out to my car and collected the remaining -   2H**  series of rings that I was holding, and there among them was -   2HFH , so David's gull had to be -   2HFH  after-all.

 

I re-sent the email, copying in Ben Dolan of the West Midlands Ringing Group in England.  Ben confirmed that the ring was theirs, and was used on a Black-headed Gull chick.  The bird was ringed on the 15th June 2021, at the Marsh Lane Nature Reserve at Meriden, in the West Midlands, England.  I submitted the sighting to the BTO, and the offical distance from them was given as 371 kms / 230 miles (NW), and the duration from being ringed, was 2 months and 17 days.  We got there in the end, and this is another example of a long distance juvenile.  My thanks goes to David for reporting his sighting, along with the photo, and to Ben Dolan for supplying the ringing information.

 

I had copied in Richard Donaghey into all the emails.  Richard contacted me to say he was going to the Bird Observatory this coming weekend and would send me a list of the rings that they were holding.  True to his word, the list came back, with 18 codes in all.  Having entered them into my new NI Common Gull Database (entered as - held by CBO), I was able to identify 25 -   2H**  series rings for which I have no information on at all.  I can only imagine, that those rings have either been lost, or perhaps broke whilst being applied to gulls.  My thanks to Richard for his help, at least I can now account for all of the -   2H**  rings, and hopefully, none of those 25 missing rings will ever be reported.  How useful, was this sighting in the long run!!!

 

Juvenile Black-headed Gull  -    2HFH   -  Kinnegar Beach, Belfast Lough, Co. Down  (01 Sep 2021)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 15th June 2021, at Marsh Lane Nature Reserve, Meriden, West Midlands, England)

(Photo Courtesy of David Sterling)

 

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