Antrim Marina - Saturday 6th June 2026...

Antrim Marina - Saturday 6th June 2026

Today, I made my second random summer visit to Antrim Marna to record the resident colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls, these having been ringed onsite during past winters.  I had planned to make the second visit sooner, but never got round to it for various reasons.

Before I go into the details of the visit, I must make mention of the 'Torpedo Platform', and two sightings of my gulls away from the Marina.

In my previous post, I reported that the whole colony of Black-headed Gulls had suddenly abandoned their breeding attempts on the 'Platform', and where they relocated to was and still is unknown.  With the Common Terns returning from Africa, I was concerned about their nesting attempts on the 'Platform' as the presence of Black-headed Gulls helps to give them some security by chasing off predators.

Through my blog, I added a link to the 'Live Camera' on the platform.  The Common Terns could clearly be seen on nest sites, though these could not be seen due to the tall grass.  The camera went off air after the 24th May, which came as no surprise.  In the days before, I witnessed Black-headed Gulls predating on the eggs of the Common Terns while I was watching certain clips.  This makes for poor viewing - no wonder the camera was shut down.

Earlier, I had informed the Lough Neagh Partnership about the situation on the 'Platform'.  Members of the Partnership monitor the wildlife on Lough Neagh, but nobody has got in touch with me giving their assessment of the situation.  Along with the recent problems with the 'Blue-Green Algae', the wildlife situation on Lough Neagh is looking bleak.

Since I ended my weekly winter visits to Antrim Marina at the end of March, I had received just a single sighting of my Black-headed Gulls away from the Marina, this being -  2FHV  in northern Iceland.  Yesterday (5th June), two further sightings arrived with me.  Both sightings had done the 'rounds' - (bouncing around through other project leads), before being redirected to myself.

The first bird was spotted on the 24th April 2026.   2FIX  was seen on the breeding scrape by an Angus Murray at the RSPB's Lochwinnoch Nature Reserve in Renfrewshire, Scotland.  Having submitted the sighting to the BTO, the official distance from the Marina, is 157 kms / 97 miles (NE).

This sighting of -  2FIX  was only it's third since being ringed at the Marina.  Ringed as an unsexed adult on the 19th December 2022, the first re-sighting was made by Suzanne Belshaw on the 2nd January 2023, and the second sighting was made by myself on the 3rd February 2025, with both sightings having been made at the Marina.

It now looks like -  2FIX  is using the Marina as a 'staging post' on route to and from it's breeding site.  If the gull is breeding in Scotland, drawing a line from Lochwinnoch through Antrim Marina, suggests that it is wintering in the south-west of Northern Ireland or possibly further away into the Republic of Ireland.  As usual, further sightings are needed to cement the movements for this gull.  At the time of it's sighting in April, it was 3 years, 4 months and 5 days since being ringed.

The second Black-headed Gull that was reported was -  2CJT .  It was spotted on the 2nd June 2026, at Antrim's Junction One Shopping Centre.   2CJT  is a year round resident in the Antrim area and therefore breeds locally.  Caught and ringed at the Marina, as a juvenile / 1st winter bird on the 4th December 2016, this was it's 325th sighting since being ringed, with all sightings bar one having been made at the Marina.  

The exception was made on the 25th February 2021, when Gavin Baptie photographed the gull at Castle Semple Loch at Lochwinnock in Renfrewshire, Scotland.  I reckoned that -  2CJT  had got dragged away in a flock of gulls towards Scotland and perhaps further north-east into Scandinavia.  It was recorded back at the Marina by the 12th April 2021.  With this latest sighting, it is now 9 years, 5 months and 29 days since being ringed.

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For my second random summer visit to the Marina, I arrived at 1pm, staying until 4pm.  It was cloudy but calm, though there was several showers of light drizzle.  The temperature gauge in my car read 15ºC.

On arrival, only 18 Black-headed Gulls were present.  Further counts were made during my visit, and the highest total was 31 birds by 3pm.  This is the worst ever count for this time of the summer and clearly reflects the situation on the nearby 'Torpedo Platform'.

On my first random summer visit, just five colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls were recorded.  Today, I recorded six colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls, four of which were recorded last time -  2FIF ,  2CSK ,  2FIL  and  2FFA .  the missing bird was -  2CJT  mentioned above.  The two additions this time, was -  2BRA  which is a well known year round resident, and the surprise sighting of -  2FFT .

 2BRA , belongs to Adam McClure's former Northern Ireland Black-headed Gull Study, and was caught and ringed at the Marina by Adam, as an adult female on the 1st February 2015.  I was present that day, having met up with Adam that day.  Today's sighting of -  2BRA  was it's 346th since being ringed, with all sightings having been made at the Marina.  The duration since being ringed, is now 11 years, 4 months and 5 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2BRA   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (06 Jun 2026)

(Ringed as an Adult Female, on the 1st February 2015, at Antrim Marina)

As mentioned, the sighting of -  2FFT  came as a surprise.  I knew straight away that this gull was not a resident at the Marina, and it's re-sighting history would suggest that it could be a foreign breeder, returning each winter.   2FFT , was ringed at the Marina as an unsexed adult, on the 21st December 2020.

Since being ringed in 2020, it has never been recorded in the months of March, April, May, June and July, until now.  The latest spring sighting was made on the 7th February 2022, and the earliest autumn sighting was made on the 3rd August 2025 - hence my surprise to record it today.  It is possible, that it's breeding attempt failed, this being the reason for the early return?  Yesterday, I saw an adult Black-headed Gull at home in Ballymena.  Black-headed Gulls do not breed in Ballymena, and normally the first gulls usually turn up in July.

It will be interesting to see if -  2FFT  is recorded in future random  summer visits.  The duration since being ringed, is now 5 years, 5 months and 16 days. 

Black-headed Gull  -   2FFT   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (06 Jun 2026)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 21st December 2020, at Antrim Marina)

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

In general, the lack of birds around the Marina is shocking - graveyards are busier.  Three Mute Swans were present on my arrival.  One was a full adult, the second, a sub-adult and the third was a cygnet which hatchet out last summer.  I could not tell if the cygnet belonged to the resident pair, or was the youngster that appeared during the winter after one of our major storms.  It could have been a different youngster altogether.  Shortly before I departed, another adult swam in from Lough Neagh.  No sign of the resident pair, but the probably have a nest further up river.  The female of the pair is ringed with a metal-ring.

A high count of the Mallards totalled 27 birds.  Not a single brood of ducklings have been recorded yet, which tells me that they too are having a poor breeding season.

Two Lesser Black-backed Gulls made repeated visits, though I do not think these were a pair.  The resident male Herring Gull made his appearance known to me.  When he arrived, he landed beside my car to let me know he was there.  He received his reward with a few beak-fulls of bread.

A pair of Hooded Crows also made repeated visits.  The male was really fierce, chasing gulls at high speed to force them to drop their feeds of bread.  Four Jackdaws also made repeated visits.  No doubt, all are feeding youngsters.

A male Chaffinch made a brief visit.  A couple of Sand Martins were feeding on flies high up in the sky, but it still does not look as if they are using the Swift nest-holes high up in the walls of the Gateway Centre. 

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