Antrim Marina - Sunday 13th October 2024...

Antrim Marina - Sunday 13th October 2024

Good weeks - bad weeks, this is how it is at Antrim Marina so far during this autumn/winter season.  Today, I arrived at my usual time of 10am, remaining (with much effort) until 2pm.  The temperature on my arrival read 10ºC, though it did feel a lot colder in the light westerly breeze.  It was a dull day with a lot of thick cloud.

With the shock appearance of Black-headed Gull -  2FFH  last Sunday, (which had to be resurrected on my spreadsheets), today, I was on the lookout for 24 colour-ringed gulls, plus any new returnees.  The initial start to reading rings went quite well and thereafter slowed considerably.  A head count of the Black-headed Gulls on my arrival, gave me a total of 53, which soon increased to around the 70 mark.  Once again, folk arrived early to feed the ducks and after that gull numbers dropped to around the 30 to 40 mark.

Long gone are the winters where numbers would easily have surpassed the 200 mark, sometimes pushing towards 300.  On reflection, numbers have never been the same here after the 'Gateway Centre' was built, and more recently 'Bird Flu' had definitely halved the numbers.  Some people have noticed the big drop in gull numbers which they were attributing to the 'Blue-Green Algae' though I know this is not the direct cause in the drop in adult gulls.  On the other hand, the amount of feeding for chicks has definitely been effected by the drop of insects on Lough Neagh, this being noted in the lack of juveniles.

The first ring to be read today, belonged to the Icelandic metal-rung -  543335 , scoped at 10:03, followed by -  2BRA  at 10:04.  By the end of my first hour, just 9 rings had been read, the 9th belonging to -  2AAN  at 10:46.  With the time approaching 1pm, my thoughts turned to quitting for the day, with just 14 rings read ( 2FHV  at 12:44).  At this point, a couple of people stopped by for a chat, including one lady who was up here from the City of Cork in the Republic of Ireland.  She observed me watching the gulls and wondered why.

Just as well, these conversations took place, as I would have missed a special returnee.  My 16th and final ring of the day to be read, was that of the early returning -  2CTA .  I had mentioned in my previous post, that -  2CTA  might be a possible returnee, though I had not really expected the bird for a further week.  I consider this gull to be a foreign breeder, though it has yet to be seen away from Antrim Marina.  Even when it does return, it is not often seen from week to week, though I do reckon it hangs around in the town of Antrim.

I caught and ringed -  2CTA  at Antrim Marina as a 2nd calendar year bird (hatched 2017), on the 10th December 2018.  It has returned to Antrim Marina every winter since being ringed, with the earliest return date having been recorded twice on the 25th October (2020 & 2021).  The latest date before it's departure, was recorded on the 24th February 2020.  I have a feeling that this gull has a 'staging site' where it 'hangs out' before returning to the Marina, and before moving on to it's nesting site.  There is definitely a lot more to be learnt about the movements of this bird.  It is now 5 years, 10 months and 3 days since it was ringed here.

With the return of -  2CTA , the overall total of colour-rings read so far this winter now rises to 25 gulls.  As I write this, it is now Friday evening on the 18th October.  With a strong storm forecast for this coming Sunday, I shall make my weekly visit to Antrim tomorrow - Saturday.  I'm looking forwards to this weekend, and if all goes well, I am hoping that -  2FDJ  will be back from Estonia.

Black-headed Gull  -   2CTA   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (13 Oct 2024)

(Ringed as an Unsexed 2nd Calendar Year Bird, on the 10th December 2018, at Antrim Marina)

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Sunday 13th October 2024

2BRA	2FFA	2FFX	2FIF	2AAB	2ABN	2CJT	2CSR
2AAN	2FJN	2FHC	2FJA	2CSK	2FHV	2ACV	2CTA

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

2BRA	2FFH	2FFT	2FIJ	2FIL	2FJF	2FJK	2FJL	2FJT

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

As always, on parking my car alongside the small concrete jetty, I look to see if there are any Mute Swans about.  With the use of the swans on the slipway, it is easier to catch gulls slipping by the legs of the swans to get bread where I can catch them much easier.  Not a single swan turned up during today's visit.

A count of the Mallards on my arrival, gave a total of 46 birds which quickly increased to around the 70 mark.  Again, most legs were checked for rings.

A juvenile Herring Gull was present on my arrival, and stayed throughout my visit.  I was not sure if this was the resident bird, as the resident youngster was not here during my previous two visits.  The resident male Herring Gull was on the roof of the 'Gateway Centre', but once he flew down to the slipway, the juvenile started 'squealing' to daddy.  There was no sign of the female.

An adult Common Gull arrived at 11:52, remaining throughout the remainder of my visit.  So far this winter, there is a complete lack of these birds appearing.  Although not common visitors, numbers should reach the dozen mark during the winter.  No sign again of the Scottish metal-rung female, which has been recorded twice so far this winter.

Once again, it was another poor showing of other species of bird, with just 2 Jackdaws, 1 Hooded Crow and a male Pied Wagtail recoded.

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