Antrim Marina - (Sunday 28th January 2024)

Antrim Marina - Sunday 28th January 2024

This week's weekly visit to Antrim Marina, was undertaken in exceptionally unseasonable conditions as the temperature was reading 12°C on my arrival just before 10am.  It remained dry, with heavy cloud cover and a fairly strong wind was blowing in from the direction of Lough Neagh.

With the long overdue return of the Swedish Black-headed Gull -  2FDL , recorded on the 14th January 2024 (expected in late November 2023), I was on the lookout for 35 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls, which included 8 birds ringed this winter.

On my arrival, 70 to 80 Black-headed Gulls were already present, and as things 'panned out', this was a high for the day, as numbers dropped off slightly.  The ring of -  2FFA  was the first to be read at 9:59am, the total slowly building up to 20 by 11:35, with the sighting of -  2FJN  which is one of the gulls ringed this winter.

For some unknown reason, all of the gulls departed from the Marina at 12:30, almost one hour after the 20th ring had been read.  With 1:30 quickly approaching and with still no gulls about, I was contemplating the thought of departing, when a few birds arrived.  In no time at all, around 30 Black-headed Gulls were back, with 5 more ring sightings being added.  This took the day's total to 25, with 10 absentees.  Strangely, none of the gulls recorded earlier, returned in this bunch.

A few 'key' rings were read today, which included the second sighting of the Swedish -  2FDL  mentioned above, as well as the Estonian -  2FDJ , and the Latvian -  2AFD .  I had hoped that the Icelandic -  2FHV  would appear as well to complete the quartet of known foreign gulls.

 2ACV , was once spotted at a breeding colony at Leighton Moss in England, but last summer, I spotted the gull at the RSPB's Window on Wildlife Reserve in Belfast, though I was unable to record the gull nesting there.  Having said that,  2FFX  was spotted several times on a nest on the reserve, and was recorded on the same nesting platform in 2022 as a prospecting immature.  The whereabouts of the breeding site of -  2ABN  is still unknown, but one pre-season sighting saw the gull south-west from Antrim, possibly moving towards Lough Erne in County Fermanagh, or possibly further afield to the Republic of Ireland.   2AAN , has been recorded during the breeding season at the town of Larne in County Antrim - the nearest breeding colony would be the RSPB's Blue Circle Island Reserve on Larne Lough.

 2AAB ,  2BRA ,  2CJT  and  2CSR , are year round residents at Antrim Marina and may all be nesting on the nearby 'former' Torpedo Platform, which was used to test torpedo's during World War Two.  There is a small 'rooftop' nesting Black-headed Gull around buildings close to the former Enkalon Factory in Antrim Town, and a few pairs also nest on the rooftop of the Tesco Warehouse at Kilbegs in Antrim.  The status of several gulls with Blue Darvics, is still unknown, as they have been ringed during more recent winters.   2FIJ , which was recorded today, has my suspicions as being a foreign bird due to the lack of re-sightings since being ringed in January 2022.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Sunday 28th January 2024

2FFA	2FIF	2CJT	2ABN	2ACV	2FIK	2FIP	2FJJ	2FDJ
2FJT	2FIJ	2FJH	2FDL	2AAB	2FFX	2FJF	2AFD	2AAN
2BRA	2FJL	2CTA	2CSK	2CSR	2FIL	2FJA

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina This Autumn/Winter but Absent Today

2BRD	2FDK	2FFT	2FHC	2FHT	2FHV	2FIA	2FJK	2FJN	2FJP

The metal-rung Icelandic Black-headed Gull -  543335 , was recorded again at 10:53.  This bird was caught and ringed at Laugarvatn on the 14th July 2023, and was first spotted at Antrim Marina on the 8th August 2023.  Since it's arrival, the gull has been recorded on most weekly visits.  Today's sighting is the 23rd record for the gull this winter, and it has now been 6 months and 14 days since it was ringed.  The distance from Laugarvatn is 1,332 kms / 827 miles (SE).  With all of the gulls having had a good feed of bread from visitors, there was still no chance for me to catch this gull so that I could add one of my colour-rings.  I'm desperately trying to colour-ring this gull before it returns to Iceland in the spring.

The ring on -  543335 , is fitted upside-down on the gull's left leg, and at 11:01, I spotted another metal-rung Black-headed Gull, though the ring on this bird was on it's right leg.  Grabbing my camera, the chase was now on, to try and obtain the whole number.  It really was a chase, as the gulls kept on flying about due to the feeds they were getting.  Each time I relocated the gull, more photos were taken, and I eventually retreated back to my car to work out the number.  It soon became clear, that this was another bird from Iceland, and once the number was pieced together, I realised that this was a second sighting this winter of -  595818 , this being confirmed once I returned home to check my records.

My first sighting was made here on the 12th November 2023, and I soon discovered that the gull was very confident being around people.  At the time, I reported my sighting directly to the Icelandic Bird Ringing Centre, and in their reply, they had to contact the ringer concerned for the ringing details.  Only recently, I made a second contact asking for details, but the ringer has yet to get back to them, though they reckoned the gull was ringed sometime during 2023.

I will now submit this second sighting, but I reckon I will be kept waiting for a while yet.

Black-headed Gull  -  Iceland   595818   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (28 Jan 2024)

(Still Waiting for the Ringing Details)

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

As usual, the large number of Mute Swans grabbed my attention on my arrival, and a quick count gave me 19 birds and no cygnets.  An adult, along with one cygnet arrived from up-river at 11:13, and a further two cygnets at 12:15, also from up-river.  The 21st (White) swan and a 4th cygnet arrived in un-noticed.  The four cygnets stayed together after this, and I was safely assume they were the four reared nearby during the summer.  All legs were checked, and for a second week running, there was no sign of -  Z78580 .

Interestingly, the resident adult male Herring Gull was absent today, though the female that arrived here a few weeks back was present throughout my visit.  Just before I departed at 2pm, a 3rd calendar year Herring Gull alighted on top of the yellow Navigation Pole.  I am certain, that it was the same bird that first appeared here last week.  For a second week in a row, a Lesser Black-backed Gull appeared and came and went throughout the morning.

Not a single Common Gull was present on my arrival, with five birds arriving almost together at 10:20.  A juvenile appeared at 12:20.  No sign of the small metal-rung Scottish female, which has been recorded on a single occasion so far this winter.

Mallard numbers are still very low, with 30 birds slowly decreasing to 12 birds by the time of my departure.  As stated previously, numbers should be in and around the 100 mark for this point of the winter.  As normal, all legs were checked for rings.

The adult Moorhen was again present throughout my visit, with the juvenile arriving at 10:57.

1 Rook, 1 Hooded Crow, 4 Jackdaws and a pair of Pied Wagtails were also noted today.

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