Antrim Marina - Sunday 28th September 2025...

Antrim Marina - Sunday 28th September 2025

Today saw me making my ninth weekly visit to Antrim Marina to study the wintering population of Black-headed Gulls, some of which are colour-ringed.  With fog around my home in Ballymena, I decided to wait until it began to lift before heading to Antrim - my thoughts, the fog would be heavier around the Lough Neagh basin.  Arriving at the Marina at 11:17, a passing couple greeted me by saying "your late this morning".  I explained about the fog at home, only to learn that there had been no fog in Antrim at all.  This couple had often seen me parked beside the slipway, but had no idea what I was actually doing.  They were enlightened after a chat which lasted around 10 minutes.

Actually, there were clear skies with plenty of sunshine, hardly any breeze, and the temperature gauge in my car was reading 14ºC.  Only 16 Black-headed Gulls were present, but numbers steadily built up soon after my arrival.  So far this autumn, I had recorded 22 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls and by the time that I departed near 4pm, no new returnees were added to that list.

The reading of colour-rings was a drawn out affair, with the 18th and final sighting being recorded at 3:02pm.  From 3pm, the number of gulls present suddenly increased from around 35 birds to a high of the day at 70+, hence staying slightly longer.

Again, not the best of day's for reading rings, as at times hardly any gulls were present at all.  Another problem that I had, was due to the calm conditions, an unknown number of gulls were resting on the roof of the 'Gateway Centre', which is not helpful.

Now that we are entering into the month of October, returnees should start to trickle in.  Also during October, natural food for the gulls becomes more scarce which will make some easier to catch.  Nice to see a build up of Mute Swans on the slipway, as their presence makes it easier to catch gulls, so long as they do not get too much to eat from passers-by.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Sunday 28th September 2025

2AAN	2FIF	2FKA	2CJT	2FFX	2FFT	2CSR	2FIL	2FFA
2FJN	2FHV	2CSK	2FJA	2BRA	2FJV	2ACV	2FJK	2FJT

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

2ABN	2BRD	2FDK	2FJF

The Icelandic metal-rung Black-headed Gull -  543335  finally appeared at 1:37pm.  As with all metal-rung birds, I zoom into the ring with my camera just to be sure it is the correct bird.  During the 2023/2024 winter, two other Icelandic metal-rung Black-headed Gulls were recorded here at the Marina, so I always need to check just in case either pass through again.

Black-headed Gull  -  Iceland   543335   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (28 Sep 2025)

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

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

Driving across the car park to my parking spot beside the short concrete jetty, quite a few Mute Swans caught my eye.  The resident pair along with their six cygnets were present, as well as four other adults.  Last week, there was no sign of the resident pair and their cygnets, but 5 adults were present.

Just a few weeks back, if any other swans appeared, they would have been chased off by the resident pair.  Today, they all were quite happy being together on the slipway.  The mother of the cygnets is ringed -  X4707 .

After an initial count of birds present, I began searching for the juvenile Mediterranean Gull.  It was here for three weeks in a row, but there was no sign of it last Sunday.  I now have three colour-rings which are registered for use on Mediterranean Gulls, these were posted to me from Sean Kingston in Dublin. 

At 12:04, this juvenile arrived at the worst possible time.  A large feed of both bread and pellets were thrown out to the ducks.  Due to the small number of Mallards present, the gulls quickly got more than their fair share including my Med Gull.  Having had a good feed, my Med rested up on the low wooden jetty for ages before disappearing altogether.

At 15:22, I heard a very noisy Mediterranean Gull and once spotted it was a juvenile, but I quickly established that this was not the original bird.  It went berserk when feed was thrown down, as if it had not seen food for a week.  Very vocal, it then flew onto the rails of the concrete jetty where I took the best of several photos.  I have never seen the original juvenile on the rails, as that bird always prefers to be on the ground.  The new juvenile has a tail.  What are the chances of catching both juveniles?

1st Juvenile Mediterranean Gull  -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (28 Sep 2025)

2nd Juvenile Mediterranean Gull  -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (28 Sep 2025) 

Where have all the Mallards gone to?  A few weeks back, Mallard numbers were at the 100 mark, but over the past couple of weeks, the totals have dropped considerably.  Just 19 were present when I arrived today, and just 7 remained when I departed.

No Herring Gulls present on my arrival and the first to arrive at 11:53, was the 2nd Calendar Year Bird.  This one first appeared two weeks ago, and I was convinced that it was the youngster from last year belonging to the resident pair.  This week, it walked up to the open door of my car, just as it had done last year.  This action reinforces my thoughts on this gull.  This year's youngster arrived at 12:15, and daddy turned up at 14:18.  An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull made a very brief visit at 14:50.

No Common Gulls were present on my arrival and the first to appear today, was an adult at 12:17.  This one has appeared in the past and is recognizable by it's longish but thin yellow beak.  It remained for about 20 minutes and was not seen again today.

Every so often, I would take a look for gulls on the long wooden jetty.  Compared to the past, the jetty is not so popular with the Black-headed Gulls, but it does attract the Common Gulls.  At 13:11, I noticed a small Common Gull perched on top of 'Speed Sign' post and on looking through my binoculars this bird was bearing a metal ring, so I knew it was the small Scottish female -  EY64036 .  Grabbing my camera, I made my way to a suitable spot and captured ' 36 ' on the ring - which was enough to confirm this gull.  Moments later, a cyclist rode up to the end of the jetty and the gulls there flew off.

 EY64036 , was ringed as a chick in Hunterston in North Ayrshire, Scotland, on the 20th June 2013.  It first appeared at Antrim Marina as a juvenile bird on the 9th February 2014 and has returned every winter since then.  My first sighting for this autumn/winter season, was made on the 31st August 2025.  Today's second sighting take the duration since being ringed, to 12 years, 3 months and 8 days.  Antrim Marina is situated 141 kms / 87 miles (SW) from Hunterston.

A third Common Gull landed on the concrete jetty at 13:49 and was still present when the small Scottish female arrived back at 15:38.  Standing side by side, I took a photo of both to highlight the difference in size between them (Note - ' EY6 ' on the metal ring).

Common Gull  -   EY64036   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (28 Sep 2025)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 20th June 2013, at Hunterston, North Ayrshire, Scotland)

Common Gull  -   EY64036   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (28 Sep 2025)

(Size Comparison of a Normal Adult Common Gull (Left) and the Small Scottish Female (Right))

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