Antrim Marina - Monday 3rd March 2025...

Antrim Marina - Monday 3rd March 2025

Another Monday visit saw my arrival to Antrim Marina, just before 10am.  The weather was cloudy and calm, with the temperature gauge in my car reading 9ºC.  Around 60 Black-headed Gulls were present, and numbers remained around that total over my four hour visit.

With a total of 33 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls recorded here this winter, the reading of rings was slow though steady with a good turnover of gulls coming and going.  My overall total finished on 20, with the ring of -  2FJP  being read just before I departed at 2pm.   2FJP , along with -  2FJH  (not recorded today), were birds that I ringed during the Autumn/Winter of 2023.  Both gulls were late returnees to the Marina (December) this winter which would suggest they are foreign breeders.

I would suspect that some of today's absentees, have now departed towards their breeding sites.   2FJF , which was reported in Scotland on the 17th January 2025, has not returned to the Marina, so it looks as if he did not visit Strathclyde Country Park for a quick 'Indian Takeaway'.  I'm now keeping my fingers crossed that he will be spotted again further afield.

Two weeks ago, a Black-headed Gull with a BTO sized metal-ring was spotted on the rails of the short concrete jetty where I park my car.  By the time I collected my camera from the car, it had flown off and I could not find it again.  At 12:42 today, I spotted what was presumably the same bird in the same position on the concrete jetty.

This time, it stayed long enough for me to photograph the bird and it's ring.  Due to it being perched on the far end of the jetty, it was difficult to obtain the final digit on the ring, which appeared to be a ' 6 '.  The whole number therefore read -  EA85506 .  I would have needed a boat to read the final digits for certain, though I was happy enough that I did have the correct number.

Returning home, I checked the ring numbers -  EA855  00 to 09 , on the BTO's DemOn Ringing Database, to find that all 10 numbers were used on Black-headed Gull chicks on the 15th June 2022, though DemOn does not show ringing locations.

I submitted my bird as -  EA85506 , but if I find that the number is incorrect at a later date, then I can amend my submission.  The recovery details arrived from the BTO, to say that the gull was ringed at the Elvanfoot colony in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.  The distance from Elvanfoot to Antrim Marina is 182 kms / 113 miles (WSW), and the duration for this first resighting, is 2 years, 8 months and 16 days.

In the past, we have had several of these Elvanfoot Black-headed Gulls in Northern Ireland that were ringed in June 2022, being recorded with colour-rings or just metal-rings.  I recall an email conversation with Iain Livingstone who is the Ringing Coordinator for the Clyde Ringing Group, about the dilemma they faced in 2022.  Having visited the Elvanfoot colony, there was an exceptionally high number of chicks present which exhausted their supply of colour-rings, leaving many chicks to be ringed with metals only.

Now reaching breeding age, I'm surprised to see the gull is here, instead of returning to it's natal colony.  Will it stay here and breed on the nearby 'Torpedo Platform', the next couple of months may answer that question?

Black-headed Gull  -   EA85506   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (03 Mar 2025)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 15th June 2022, at Elvanfoot, South Lanarkshire, Scotland)

In my previous post, I made mention of the Swedish -  2FDL , having arrived very late this winter (5th January 2025), and had only been seen on that one occasion.  I should have kept my mouth shut, as it was my 18th colour-ring sighting today, at 13:20.  Since being ringed here in November 2019, it's appearance today was the first ever March sighting here.  The single sighting in Sweden, was recorded on the 3rd April 2022, at a breeding colony on the outskirts of Stockholm, which numbered around 400 pairs.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FDL   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (03 Mar 2025)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 18th November 2019, at Antrim Marina)

Another gull I made mention of in my previous post, was -  2FFX .  I did not expect to see it today, as I was half expecting to be heading off to his breeding site at the RSPB's Window on Wildlife Reserve in Belfast.  His earliest sighting at the reserve was recorded on the 19th March 2023.

Another absentee -  2BRD , should now be found at Lurgan Park Lake in County Armagh.  It visits Lurgan Park during the weeks prior to the new breeding season starting.  This is a site often covered by Suzanne Belshaw, so I keen to receive her next email.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Monday 3rd March 2025

2FJN	2FKA	2FJV	2FFA	2FHC	2FJK	2FFX	2CJT	2FIL	2FIF
2ACV	2CSR	2CSK	2AAB	2FJT	2AAN	2ABN	2FDL	2FJX	2FJP

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

2AFD	2BRA	2BRD	2CTA	2FFH	2FFT	2FHV
2FIJ	2FIX	2FJA	2FJF	2FJH	2FJL

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

As usual over recent weeks, the large number of Mute Swans are first to grab my attention as I park up beside the small concrete jetty.  A high of 21 were counted - 19 adults and two 3rd calendar year birds.  On a couple of occasions, all of them came ashore to obtain feeds of bread and pellets.  Only the one bird was ringed, this being -  X4707 , which was ringed in April 2024 at Bartins Bay on the eastern shore of Lough Neagh.  After several feeds, some swans departed towards the Lough.

Mallard numbers continue to be on the low side.  Around 30 were counted on my arrival, with numbers dropping slightly after feeds.  As usual, I'm pretty sure most if not all legs were checked for rings.

A pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls were present throughout my visit, and often chased the other gulls forcing them to drop their share of bread being fed to the ducks.

The juvenile Herring Gull arrived at 10:35, with his father who is a resident here, arriving 10 minutes later.  No sign of the female, but she could be on the nearby 'Torpedo Platform' which is their likely nest site.  The immature, 3rd calendar year Herring Gull arrived at 13:05.  This very friendly bird, did not join into the feeds today, and the size of his crop told me he had already had a good feed elsewhere.  Pity, as I had a ring and pliers ready.

2 adult Common Gulls along with a juvenile were present on my arrival.  At 12:24, I had a high count of 5 adults and two juveniles.  None of these were ringed.  I reckon the two metal-rung birds from Finland and Scotland will not be seen again this winter.  The Finnish bird was one of my best sightings here this winter.  Appearing just before Christmas, I had not seen it here since 2018.  Ringed as a juvenile on the 6th August 1995, my final sighting on the 17th February 2025 saw the duration since being ringed, as 29 years, 6 months and 11 days.

Two pairs of Jackdaws, along with a pair of Pied Wagtails, were present throughout the visit.  A pair of Hooded Crows, 1 Rook and the 'noisy' juvenile Jackdaw made brief appearances.

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