Antrim Marina - Wednesday 12th November 2025...

Antrim Marina - Wednesday 12th November 2025

Reaching the ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) barrier at Antrim Marina, my heart immediately sank with what I saw in front of me.  The 'Dredging Crew' were back again, which will mean that a few weeks of disturbance lies ahead.  They were here on one previous occasion, though I cannot remember when that was.  The dredging operation sees them starting at the breakwater leading into Lough Neagh, and over time, moving closer and closer to the Marina.  The silt which is brought ashore beside the 'Low Wooden Jetty', is taken away by lorries.  This will mean the 'Low Wooden Jetty' is no longer available to the gulls to rest on.

Having passed through the ANPR barrier, the pontoon carrying the JCB digger was just passing the 'Short Concrete Jetty' where I park my car, making it's way out to the entrance of Lough Neagh.  In the first photo below, my parking spot is beside the bend in the fencing just passed the swan on the left.  The next two photos cover the compound beside the 'Low Wooden Jetty'.

The Barge Loaded With the JCB Digger Passing the Short Concrete Jetty on it's Way Out to Lough Neagh  (12 Nov 2025)

First of Two Views Beside the Low Wooden Jetty at Antrim Marina  (12 Nov 2025)

The Second View Beside the Low Wooden Jetty at Antrim Marina  (12 Nov 2025)

(Note :-  Where the Two Vans are Parked, is Where the Crack Willow Tree Stood Which has Recently Been Removed)

(See Main Photo at the Foot of This Page)

This next photo shows the pontoon in place and the 'Tender' making it's way out to be loaded up with silt.

Barge in Place at the Breakwater with Silt Tender Making it's Way Out  (12 Nov 2025)

I arrived at the Marina at 11am this morning.  Weatherwise, it was cloudy and calm, with the temperature gauge in my car reading 11ºC.  After last week's disastrous visit, and seeing the 'Dredging Crew' today, I felt like leaving for home straight away.  Having said that, today's visit ended up being better than expected.

Around 50 Black-headed Gulls were present when I arrived, and numbers held up fairly well throughout my visit with numbers ranging from 40 to 70 gulls.  So far this winter, 23 Colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls have been recorded, a number which has remained static for a few weeks now.  Although this was a reasonably good visit, no further returnees were recorded today.   The reading of colour-rings progressed fairly well from the off, and then I spotted a new gull.

Just after 11:30, I grabbed my camera and took a walk to the side of the 'Gateway Centre' which gives an easy view onto the 'Long Wooden Jetty' opposite.  Scanning through the legs of the gulls, I spotted -  2AAN , and then noticed a Black-headed Gull with a meta-ring.  The ring was fitted upside down and looked to be a British sized metal, which I took a photo of.  Looking through the remaining gulls -  2ABN  was also present.

My focus now, was to obtain the full number on the new gull with the metal ring.  Whilst moving to a closer position to zoom in with my camera, a gent on a bicycle stopped me to ask if I was the 'Environment Man' - having noticed the plates attached to the rear doors of my car - 'Environmental Study Vehicle'.  I explained that I had nothing directly to do with the Environment, but it was the 'Local Councils' way of allowing me to bring my car into the Marina.  I told him about my Black-headed Gull Study and the use of 'Colour Coded Rings'.  By the time our little conversation ended (about 10 minutes), my gull with the metal-ring had flown away and did not return.

Back at home, I looked at my single photo, and it was a 'British' ring, and the address 'London' could clearly be seen.  All that I could clearly see of the number, was the digits ' 56 '.  Preceding these, was, what looked like an ' L ' followed by a ' 8 ' or ' 3 '.  Although the letter before the 'L' could not be seen, I knew it had to be an ' E ', which is always used on that size of ring.

I then went online to check the number on the 'BTO's' Live DemOn Ringing Database.  First entering - ' EL85601 ' then moving through the final two digits, I found that this series was mostly used on Stone Curlews of various ages.  I then tried ' EL35601 ' and so on, and found many matches for Black-headed Gulls, also of varying ages.  With the given dates, I reckon this Black-headed Gull was likely to have been ringed as a chick in June 2019.  However, DemOn does not show ringing locations.  I will now keep a special lookout in case this gull returns over the winter and try to capture the full number.   

Black-headed Gull  -  Possibly    EL356 **   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (12 Nov 2025)

Altogether, I recorded 17 out of 23 colour-rings, which left me with 8 absentees today.  One thing that was surprising about today's visit, the gulls were not at all phased by the dredging operations or the noise that went along with it.

The Icelandic metal-rung Black-headed Gull -  543335  arrived at 12:28, having been spotted on the 'Long Wooden Jetty'.  These days, this jetty is favoured more by the Common Gulls, but with the 'Low Wooden Jetty' unavailable, the jetty had far more Black-headed Gulls on it than normal.  Being a calm day, an unknown number of gulls were also perched on the roof of the 'Gateway Centre'.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Wednesday 12th November 2025

2FFA	2FJT	2ACV	2AAN	2ABN	2CSK	2FJA	2CJT
2FIL	2FFX	2BRA	2CSR	2FIF	2FKA	2FJN

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

2BRD	2FDK	2FFT	2FHV	2FJF	2FJK	2FJV	2FJX

With no further returnees of late, I have listed below, the gulls that I am still waiting on.   2AAB , is a year round resident at the Marina.  Last seen during March of this year, it was not recorded during the breeding season on random visits.

Two others on this list, is -  2FIJ  and  2FJL .  Both were recorded during random summer visits, therefore, they probably bred on the nearby 'Torpedo Platform'.  Neither have been seen since I began my weekly winter visits.  I will not write them off just yet.

 2AFD  and  2FDL , are known to breed in Latvia and Sweden respectively.  The return of -  2FDL , could be a hit or a miss. as it is not a regular winter visitor these days.   2AFD  however, normally returns by the third weekend in November.

 2FFH , was not added to the list, as it was found dead in a colony in the Netherlands in April 2025.

 2FHC , should have returned in August, but it's breeding site is unknown.  It is now looking as if this bird has perished.  This could be the same for -  2FJH , last seen here in February 2025, and -  2FJP , last seen here in March 2025.

 2FIX , made a single appearance last winter.  Since being ringed, prior to that sighting, I had wrote the gull off due a long period of absence.  The status for this gull now, is a rare visitor (possibly on passage to it's breeding or wintering site).

As for the remaining gulls, their breeding sites are not known, but all may well be breeding in foreign countries.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded Last Winter at Antrim Marina but Absent so far This Winter

2AAB	2AFD	2CTA	2FDL	2FHC	2FIJ	2FIX	2FJH	2FJL	2FJP

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

On my arrival, 8 adult Mute Swans were present, as well as three cygnets.  One of the adults was the metal-rung female -  X4707 .  She is the resident breeding female, and should have had six cygnets with her.  On two occasions, we have had an adult male with three cygnets visiting.  Danny from the Lough Neagh rescue team, said these three cygnets are usually seen on the Lough around the nearby Rea's Wood area.  After a short period of time, I discovered that today's three cygnets did belong to  X4707 , so I'm wondering what has happened to the other three.

Mallard numbers were reasonably good today.  Around 50 were present on my arrival, with around 50 still present when I departed.  As usual, most if not all legs were checked for rings.

A 2nd Calendar Year Herring Gull, and this year's juvenile Herring Gull, were present throughout my visit, sometimes practically standing together.  I'm still fairly sure that the second year bird, is last year's chick belonging to the resident pair of Herring Gulls.  Their father arrived at 11:50, and still has a slight limp.  At 1:37, the resident male started to call loudly, and on looking up to the top of a lamppost, his mate had arrived.  A second 'bulky' looking juvenile made a brief appearance at 12:05.

The first Common Gull arrived at 11:50, this being an adult bird.  A second adult appeared at 12:42.  A brief appearance of a Lesser Black-backed Gull was recorded at 12:25.

In my post last week, I mentioned the appearance of an adult Moorhen which was actively eating the droppings of the Black-headed Gulls.  I had seen this on one occasion a few years back, thinking that was not normal.  Last week's Moorhen was back on the 'Long Wooden Jetty' today and once again, eating the droppings.  Perhaps this is normal for them, though I have no idea how common this would be. 

Adult Moorhen Eating the Black-headed Gull Droppings  -  Antrim Marina  (12 Nov 2025)

Two pairs of Jackdaws made repeated visits.  Brief appearances of a pair of Hooded Crows and a male Pied Wagtail made up the remaining list of sightings.

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