Antrim Marina - Sunday 7th September 2025...

Antrim Marina - Sunday 7th September 2025

Today saw me making my sixth weekly visit to Antrim Marina to study the wintering population of Black-headed Gulls, some of which have been colour-ringed in order to track their movements.  I arrived for my four hour visit just before 10am, the weather being cloudy with a fairly strong westerly wind blowing in from Lough Neagh.  The temperature gauge in my car read 19ºC.

Parking at my normal spot beside the small concrete jetty, a count of the Black-headed Gulls gave me a total of 53 birds.  So far this winter, I have recorded 22 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls and by the time of my departure, there were no further returnees.

Just 13 colour-rings were read, which meant I had 9 absentees today.  The first ring read at 10:00, was that of -  2FFA , with -  2FJK  being the 13th at 11:26.  That meant, for a whole two and a half hours, no further ringed gulls turned up.

Over the past two weeks, numbers were really good, with around 100 gulls present.  Numbers today never exceeded the 53 mark, and even dropped off slightly before I departed.  This meant I had a largely boring visit.  When I first started visiting Antrim Marina in the winter of 2013/2014, numbers ranged between 200 and 300 gulls during my weekly visits.  Since the serious outbreak of 'Bird Flu' during the breeding season of 2023, numbers here have never recovered.  That winter, roughly half of my colour-ringed gulls failed to return.  

Amongst today's sightings,  2FHV  is one of my 'star' birds.  Having been ringed as an unsexed adult in November 2021, this bird has been spotted at a breeding colony in Iceland (June & July 2022).  Each winter, it returns to the Marina in early August, but over the last three winters, it leaves in late October, which means it is moving on to another site for the winter.  Where it goes to is unknown, though it does return to the Marina in early spring before moving on towards Iceland.  This means the gull is using the Marina as a 'staging post' where it remains for a short time.  

Last winter,  2FHV  was last seen on the 19th October 2024, but this time, it failed to return in the spring.  This left me worrying about it's survival, until I recorded it's return on the 3rd August 2025.  It is now 3 years, 9 months and 30 days since I ringed this gull.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FHV   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (07 Sep 2025)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 8th November 2021, at Antrim Marina)

The metal-ringed Icelandic Black-headed Gull -  543335 , arrived at 11:48 today.  It was caught and ringed in southern Iceland in July 2023, arriving at the Marina the following month.  This winter, it has returned for the third time, having been recorded on the slightly later date of the 24th August.  I have tried to catch this bird over the past two winters, and now have another chance to fit a colour-ring to this gull.  This would mean it will have a greater chance of being spotted back in Iceland.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Sunday 7th September 2025

2FFA	2FJV	2FJA	2AAN	2CSR	2FIL	2BRA
2CJT	2FIF	2FHV	2FFX	2FJT	2FJK

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

2ABN	2ACV	2BRD	2CSK	2FDK	2FFT	2FJF	2FJN	2FKA

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

On parking beside the small concrete jetty, there was no sign of the Mute Swan family with the six cygnets.  By the time of my departure, there was still no sign of them.  A count of the Mallards gave a total of around 50 birds, half of the total last week.  A further count around 1pm gave me a total of 63.  As usual, most legs were checked for rings.

After counting the Black-headed Gulls, I then began looking for the juvenile Mediterranean Gull which

was present last week.  I soon found it resting on the long wooden jetty.  This youngster is very confident being around people to take it's share of bread and pellets being thrown out to the ducks.  The way things are looking, this juvenile seems to be quite at home and may possibly remain for the winter.  This will give me a greater chance to catch and colour-ring the young gull.

Juvenile Mediterranean Gull  -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (07 Sep 2025)

There was no sign of the resident pair of Herring Gulls or their chick on my arrival, but the youngster finally turned up at 13:05.  An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull arrived at 11:38, and was still present on my departure.  No Common Gulls appeared today.  Last week saw the return of the small Scottish Common Gull -   EY64036 .

An adult Hooded Crow, along with a juvenile, made a brief visit, as did an adult Rook.  5 Jackdaws made repeated visits.

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