On Holiday From Sheffield...

From Pete and Ann Wilson

In my previous post, I wrote about the sighting of a colour-ringed second year Common Gull ( 2CCL ), spotted by Pete and Ann Wilson, whilst visiting Ballycastle.  On Thursday 20th July, another email arrived from Pete and Ann, with photos of another three colour-ringed Common Gulls and they stated that they would be leaving Ballycastle on Saturday.  This prompted me to ask if they were on holiday here, to learn that they were on holiday and that they were from Sheffield in England.

Of the three Common Gulls, the only one that they were sure of was -  2BBC , whilst the codes on the other two rings looked a bit dodgy.  I quickly established that these two gulls were -  2ATV  and  2BNJ .  Both -  2ATV  and  2BBC  were colour-ringed as chicks when I began my Rathlin Island Common Gull Project back in 2017.

On Rathlin this summer,  2ATV  was recorded on two occasions at the Rue Point colony, the first of which was on the rather late date of the 11th June.  Having not been recorded earlier, this gull could well be a female and went un-noticed while sitting on eggs.  The BTO gave a distance of 9 kms / 5 miles (SSW) from Rue Point to Ballycastle Beach, but this figure is calculated using Latitudes and Longitudes, but the real distance is more like 6 kms / 4 miles (SSW).  The duration since being ringed, is now 6 years, 1 month and 3 days (PDF).

Common Gull  -   2ATV   -  Ballycastle Beach, Ballycastle, Co. Antrim  (20 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 17th June 2017, at Rue Point, Rathlin Island, Co. Antrim)

(Photo Courtesy of Pete & Ann Wilson)

The sighting of -  2BBC  was of special interest.  Originally ringed as a chick at the Arkill Bay colony in 2017, since reaching breeding age,  2BBC  now nests at the Doon Bay colony.  This summer, Rathlin residents - Ric Else and Hazel Watson recorded the return of -  2BBC  at the Doon Bay colony on the 19th March 2023, and despite several visits to all of the accessible colonies,  2BBC  was not seen again until now.  Two small colonies that I do not have access to, are the Portawillan and Port Castle sites further north near the East Lighthouse.  I'm left wondering if -  2BBC  has had a change of nest-site.  This could be a possibility if the gull has taken up with a new partner.  At least with this latest sighting, I now know -  2BBC  is still alive and well.  Now that the gull has left Rathlin Island, it may be on it's way to Dundrum in County Down, where it has been recorded wintering on two occasions.  The duration since being ringed, is now 6 years and 26 days (PDF).

Common Gull  -   2BBC   -  Ballycastle Beach, Ballycastle, Co. Antrim  (20 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 24th June 2017, at Arkill Bay, Rathlin Island, Co. Antrim)

(Photo Courtesy of Pete & Ann Wilson)

 2BNJ , was ringed as a chick at the Doon Bay colony in 2019.  It returned to the colony for the first time in 2021, and despite being recorded on four occasions in June of that year, I was fairly sure that it returned to prospect a nest-site for 2022.  In 2022, the gull definitely did nest, and was recorded on five occasions over the months of May and June.  This summer,  2BNJ  was recorded twice in May at the Doon Bay colony, but was not seen again after that.  I missed out on two visits to the Doon Bay colony in June, but that was due to very poor weather conditions, with heavy rain and even thunder and lightening.  With this latest sighting, the duration since being ringed, is now 4 years and 24 days (PDF).

Common Gull  -   2BNJ   Ballycastle Beach, Ballycastle, Co. Antrim  (20 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 26th June 2019, at Doon Bay, Rathlin Island, Co. Antrim) 

(Photo Courtesy of Pete & Ann Wilson)

My thanks goes to Pete and Ann for these ring sightings, along with the photos.  Apparently, they had a great time in Ballycastle, and really enjoyed meeting a lot of friendly people.  They said that they would definitely come back again for another holiday here, and if they do, I asked them to get in touch and we can meet up at some point.

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From David Nixon & Suzanne Belshaw

I have given David Nixon and Suzanne Belshaw a joint heading, as both recorded two colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls on the same site and date, though at different times at Sprucefield Shopping centre in County Down.  No sooner had I responded to David's sightings, along with updated spreadsheets for both birds, when Suzanne's email arrived, thus having to update the spreadsheets again.  In the process, I added a third colour-ringed Black-headed Gull that Suzanne recorded during her visit to Sprucefield, along with a colour-ringed Common Gull recorded at Whiteabbey the day before.

Black-headed Gull -  2ACP , was ringed as an unsexed adult, on the 9th February 2013, being among the earliest to be ringed belonging to Adam McClure's former Northern Ireland Project which began in 2012, ending in June 2018.  The gull has a long history of re-sightings in the Sprucefield / Lisburn area from Autumn through to early spring, but as yet, we do not know where this bird goes to breed.  The two latest sightings on the 25th July 2023, are the birds 36th and 37th sighting records altogether.  The duration since being ringed, is now 10 years, 5 months and 16 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2ACP   -  Sprucefield Shopping Centre, Co. Down  (25 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 9th February 2013, at Sprucefield Shopping Centre)

(Photo Courtesy of David Nixon)

Black-headed Gull  -   2ACP  -  Sprucefield Shopping Centre, Co. Down  (25 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 9th February 2013, at Sprucefield Shopping Centre)

(Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Belshaw)

The second Black-headed Gull to be spotted by both David and Suzanne, was that of a Scottish bird, though no stranger to Northern Ireland.  (White) 2BDN, was ringed as a chick, on the 3rd June 2018, at the Broad Law colony in the Moorfoot Hills, in the Borders Region of Scotland.  The first ever re-sighting was made by Suzanne, on the 23rd July 2019, here at Sprucefield Shopping Centre.

On the 2nd February 2020, I recorded (White) 2BDN at Whitehouse Lagoon on Belfast Lough.  The next sighting saw the gull back in Scotland, having been spotted on the 16th July 2021, by William Barber at Seton Burn in East Lothian.  This remains to be the only Scottish re-sighting so far.

On the 11th September 2021, (White) 2BDN was back in Belfast, when I spotted the gull on the Dargan Mudflats, just a short distance away from Whitehouse Lagoon.  An unexpected sighting was made by Suzanne on the 12th February 2022, when she recorded (White) 2BDN at Groomsport Harbour in County Down, which was the bird's final sighting until now.  Unlike most other wintering Black-headed Gulls, this particular individual seems to have no set wintering site.  The duration since being ringed, is now 5 years, 1 month and 22 days.  The distance from Broad Law to Sprucefield, is 239 kms / 148 miles (SW).

I notified the ringing co-ordinator - Tom Dougall about the latest sightings of (White) 2BDN, which he was really pleased to hear about.  Tom stated that no Black-headed Gull chicks were ringed at the Broad Law colony this summer, as 'Bird Flu' had decimated the colony, which was virtually deserted by the end of May.

Black-headed Gull  -  (White)  2BDN  -  Sprucefield Shopping Centre, Co. Down  (25 Jul 2023)

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

(Photo Courtesy of David Nixon)

Black-headed Gull  -  (White)  2BDN  -  Sprucefield Shopping Centre, Co. Down  (25 Jul 2023)

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

(Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Belshaw)

The third Black-headed Gull spotted at Sprucefield Shopping Centre, was the bird that Suzanne was really hoping to record due to it's age and where it came from.

 250B , was ringed as a chick, on the 6th June 2008, at Lough Mask, Co. Mayo, Republic of Ireland.  The first sighting in Northern Ireland, was made on the 1st July 2013, when Adam McClure recorded the gull here at Sprucefield Shopping Centre.  Over the years, this bird has been recorded at Sprucefield on many occasions, and once paid a visit close to Suzanne's home in nearby Lisburn.  However,  250B  does not remain at Sprucefield all winter, and I am certain that Sprucefield is being used as a staging post, both in the autumn, and in the early spring, when no doubt the gull is on it's way back to County Mayo. So far, the actual wintering site remains a mystery.  Making a straight line on a map from Lough Mask, through Sprucefield and beyond, would possibly take this bird to Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.

 250B , has been recorded back in County Mayo on just 5 occasions - June 2009, June 2010, June 2017 and twice in May 2019.  The distance from Lough Mask to Sprucefield, is 232 kms / 144 miles (ENE), and the duration since being ringed, is now a nice 15 years, 1 month and 19 days.  The total number of re-sightings on my spreadsheet for  250B , is now 34.

Black-headed Gull  -   250B   -  Sprucefield Shopping Centre, Co. Down  (25 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 6th June 2008, at Lough Mask, Co. Mayo, Republic of Ireland)

(Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Belshaw)

The colour-ringed Common Gull recorded by Suzanne on the 24th July 2023, was -  2AIP , which was spotted at it's regular wintering site on the Whiteabbey Shore on Belfast Lough.   2AIP , belongs to Shane Wolsey's former Common Gull project on Big Copeland Island, and was ringed as a chick there on the 11th June 2012.  All 26 sightings of -  2AIP , have been made here on the Whiteabbey Shore.  The distance from Big Copeland Island to Whiteabbey, is 23 kms / 14 miles (W), and the duration since being ringed, is now 11 years, 1 month and 13 days (PDF).

The Blue Darvics used by Shane deteriorate very quickly, which is something I have to contend with, having inherited the rings from Shane when I began my own Common Gull colour-ringing project on Rathlin Island.  Despite this, using a camera with a long reach, the indentation of the letters used can still be read.  Another pointer, when identifying -  2AIP , is that the code reads top down, instead of bottom up like on most other gulls.

Common Gull  -   2AIP   -  Whiteabbey Shore, Belfast Lough, Co. Antrim  (24 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 11th June 2012, at Big Copeland Island, The Copeland Islands, Co. Down)

(Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Belshaw)

My thanks goes to both David and Suzanne for their sighting reports, along with the photos.  As always, these are always much appreciated.

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