Antrim Marina - Tuesday 25th February 2025...

Antrim Marina - Tuesday 25th February 2025

With Sunday being wet with several showers, and a midday appointment on Monday, this week's visit was made on Tuesday.  Arriving at 9:57, there was a lot of sunshine and a light breeze.  The temperature gauge in my car read 7ºC, though it still felt quite chilly.

After passing through the barrier which operates on vehicle number recognition, I drove slowly across the car park towards my usual parking spot next to the short concrete jetty.  Whilst driving across I passed a Black-headed Gull with a Blue Darvic, and a quick peek through my binoculars revealed that it was last week's newcomer -  218H .  I now know a little bit more about this bird's history.

Ringed as an unsexed adult at Bowness in Cumbria, England in November 2022, quite a number of re-sightings have been recorded at Bowness or at nearby Hodbarrow.  Interesting about those sightings, is that they occurred during both the winter and the breeding seasons, suggesting that it was resident to that area.  So what brought it over to Northern Ireland, as these are the first sightings away from Cumbria?    218H  looks to be very settled here at Antrim Marina, which has me wondering, was it here in the past before it's capture in Cumbria?.  It will be interesting to see if this gull stays here for the summer.

Black-headed Gull  -   218H   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (25 Feb 2025)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 29th November 2022, at Bowness, Cumbria, England)

On parking at the concrete jetty, a rough count of the Black-headed Gulls gave me a total of around 80 birds.  Unlike my previous two visits, which was disastrous as far as numbers go, numbers remained around the 80 mark throughout my visit, though judging by the number of colour-ringed gulls present, there appeared to be a large turnover of gulls coming and going.

With a total of 33 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls to look for belonging to my study, my total for the day ended on 18.  Rings were recorded at a rapid rate, with -  2FJA  being the first at 10:00.  An hour later at 11:01, the ring of -  2CSK  was the last to be read.  Although I had planned to stay until 2pm, at 12:50 it began to rain pretty hard, and seeing as no further rings had been read for the best part of two hours, I decided to call it a day.

Among the sightings today, were -  2ABN  and -  2ACV , which have been absent for a few weeks, but this is nothing new concerning these two.  There is still no sign of the Icelandic bird -  2FHV .  This one appears to use Antrim Marina as a 'staging post' when returning from Iceland, and then before it's return to Iceland.  Another gull that stands out this winter, is the Swedish -  2FDL .  It's return to the Marina was very late this winter (5th January 2025) and I have not seen it since.  This winter on the whole has been very mild, and this could be effecting migration patterns.

Several of the Black-headed Gulls have fully developed 'dark hoods', which is a sure sign that the new breeding season is fast approaching.  One such bird is that of -  2FFX .  This bird is quite special, as it is of known age, and it's breeding site was discovered at an early stage in it's life.

 2FFX , was caught and ringed at Antrim Marina as a juvenile bird on the 21st December 2020.  The last sighting of this gull during the 2020/2021 winter season was made on the 12th April 2021.  No sightings were made during random visits to the Marina in the summer of 2021, but I recorded it's return to the Marina on the 9th August 2021.  Recorded almost every week throughout the 2021/2022 winter, the final sighting at the Marina, was made on the 14th March 2022.

During the breeding season, I would undertake a few random visits to the RSPB's Window on Wildlife Reserve at Belfast's Harbour Estate.  Here, I would scope the nesting platforms for ringed gulls and terns whilst they are breeding.  On the 26th June 2022, whilst making another random visit, I spotted -  2FFX  on breeding 'Platform One' located in front of the Visitor Centre.  As the bird was not at full breeding age, I suspected that it was prospecting a nest-site for the 2023 breeding season, by which time it would be an adult.  It may also be possible, that the Window on Wildlife Reserve could be the site where it grew up as a chick.

On my first weekly visit at Antrim Marina to study the Black-headed Gulls during the 2022/2023 winter,  2FFX  had already returned (2nd August 2022).  Once again, the gull was recorded throughout the winter, with the final sighting being recorded on the 28th February 2023.  On the 19th March 2023, I made an early visit the the Window on Wildlife Reserve, and there was -  2FFX  back on 'Platform One'.  Here I watched him displaying to his partner, and bringing in nesting material.  He was recorded four times during the breeding season on the 'Platform', the last date being on the 20th May 2023.  By this time of the summer, the height of the vegetation makes scoping very difficult.

I began my weekly visits to the Marina to cover the 2023/2024 winter on the 31st July 2023, and discovered -  2FFX  had already returned.  Again, recorded regularly through to the 25th February 2024, random visits to the Window on Wildlife Reserve during the breeding season did not reveal any sightings.  At the Reserve, Black-headed Gulls also nest on the edges of the large Lagoon, and had -  2FFX  changed his nest-site, it would have been extremely difficult to pinpoint where at.  

This winter, he was recorded back at the Marina during my first visit on the 4th August 2024.  Judging by his previous record here, today's sighting should be the final one for this winter.  It would be great to find him back on the RSPB Reserve this summer.  The duration since being ringed, is now 4 years, 2 months and 4 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FFX   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (25 Feb 2025)

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

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Tuesday 25th February 2025

2FJA	2ABN	2FJK	2BRA	2FJN	2FJV	2FJH	2FHC	2ACV
2FIL	2FKA	2CSR	2AAN	2AAB	2CJT	2FFX	2FJT	2CSK

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

2AFD	2BRD	2CTA	2FDL	2FFA	2FFH	2FFT	2FHV
2FIF	2FIJ	2FIX	2FJF	2FJL	2FJP	2FJX

The metal-rung Icelandic Black-headed Gull -  543335 , is still here and was spotted at 10:20.  I took just the one photo of the bird, and seeing the numbers ' 54 ' on the upside-down ring was enough to confirm it.  Ringed in July 2023, it is now coming to the end of it's second winter here at the Marina.  What I found of interest in this bird today, was that it shy-ed away from the feeds being fed to the ducks.  Having fed well throughout the winter, perhaps it has decided to lose a few 'pounds' before it fly's back to Iceland.  It has been 1 year, 7 months and 11 days, since being ringed.  Although it was accidently caught in a garden Whoosh-trap at Laugarvatn towards southern Iceland, I reckon that it breeds at one of the more northern colonies.  I would be fairly certain that it was on it's way to Northern Ireland when caught and ringed.

Black-headed Gull  -   543335   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (25 Feb 2025)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 14th July 2023, at Laugarvatn, Árnessýsla, Iceland)

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

As per usual over the past few weeks, the large number of Mute Swans catches the eye on my arrival.  My first count gave a total of 14 birds, but three others had slipped in unnoticed by 10:54, with another two arriving from Lough Neagh at 11:07.  The legs of all 19 birds were checked for rings, but none this week.

Mallards numbered 40 on arrival, but dropped slightly to around 30 after a few feeds from the public.  Again, most if not all legs were checked for rings.

Last week saw the presence of a Lesser Black-backed Gull, this being the time of the year that they return from their wintering sites in southern Europe and North Africa.  Today, a pair was present throughout my visit.

There was no sign of the resident pair of Herring Gulls, but their youngster from last summer arrived at 10:45.  The 3rd calendar year Herring Gull which arrived recently, appeared at 10:51.  Being so people friendly, I brought a metal 'G' size ring and my pliers along today and just missed out on catching the bird on two occasions.  

Common Gull numbers have now dropped off, with one adult on my arrival, and a total of three adults by 10:43.  Two juveniles were also recorded at 10:20 and 12:11.  All five were still present when I departed around 12:50 - no rings..

Two pairs of Jackdaws and the usual pair of Pied Wagtails, were the only other species seen today.

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