Antrim Marina - Tuesday 22nd September 2026...

Antrim Marina - Tuesday 22nd September 2026

This post is way late being published, but after my last visit to Antrim Marina, my heart for my study of the Black-headed Gulls has reached an all time low.  Arriving at the Marina, it was the 'Algae' which immediately caught my eye.  The situation is the worst that I have seen and is obviously having an effect on the wildlife.  By the time that I had completed today's visit, I'm now left wondering whether to walk away from my study for good.

The photo below shows an arc of 'Algae', the existing 'Algae' to the right and the new 'Algae' have been blown in from Lough Neagh by the wind to the left.  One gent said that the 'Algae' ended about 400 yards upriver.

It was midday before I got to Antrim Marina today.  The sky was 50/50 cloud and sun and a fairly strong wind was blowing in from the west.  The temperature gauge in my car read 20ºC.

As well as the 'Algae', the lack of birds was also noticeable.  Around 40 Black-headed Gulls were present and this number was never bettered.  At times, numbers dropped to as little a 3 gulls.  Just 13 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls have been recorded since I began my weekly visits at the start of August.

11 of these were recorded today leaving me with 2 absentees.  Most noticeable of those two is -  2FHV .  This bird breeds in Iceland, returns to the Marina by the beginning of August.  It always remains for a few weeks and then moves on to wherever it winters.  It arrives back at the Marina in early spring before heading back to Iceland.  Looks like it may well have moved on.

With no new returnees, there was very little to report on concerning the Black-headed Gulls.  At the start of August, things looked promising as around 100 Black-headed Gulls were present along with good numbers of juveniles.  How things have changed since the arrival of the 'Algae'.

It seems like Antrim Marina is dying along with Lough Neagh.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Tuesday 22nd September 2026

2AAN	2ABN	2FJA	2FJT	2CSK	2CSR
2FIL	2FIF	2FKA	2CJT	2BRA

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

2FFT	2FHV

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

Other than the Black-headed Gulls, around 50 Mallards were resting around the jetties.  They all looked very clean, so, have obviously avoided the 'Algae'.  Around 13:45, the Mallards began flying out towards the Lough, and shortly afterwards, there was none.  A handful had returned before my departure at 3:30.

No Mute Swans or Common Gulls appeared today, and a single Lesser Black-backed Gull made a brief appearance.  At 12:33, the resident male Herring Gull arrived and quickly made his way to the door of my car looking a feed of bread, which was duly obliged by hand feeding.  There was no sign of his partner or his youngster.  At 2:10, a second calendar year Herring Gull arrived.  With close proximity to the resident male, this was likely to be last year's chick.

3 Jackdaws were almost ever present, and a single Hooded Crow made a brief visit.

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Antrim Marina - Week Ending 20th September 2026

Antrim Marina

I had to forget about this week's weekly visit to Antrim Marina.  I had planned on a Wednesday visit, but due to a 'frozen' left shoulder, it was wiser to stay at home.  I first felt signs after getting up on Tuesday morning and the shoulder progressively got worse as the day wore on.  As I write this today (Sunday 20th September), my shoulder is just about back to normal.

One bit of news.  The ringing recovery for the female Mallard -  GJ31095  arrived with me on Tuesday 15th September.  The duck was ringed at Kiltonga Nature Reserve in Newtownards, County Down, on the 23rd February 2024.  The distance from Kiltonga to Antrim Marina was given as 36 kms / 22 miles (WNW) and the duration since being ringed was 2 years, 6 months and 17 days.  This was the bird's first re-sighting since being ringed.

Female Mallard  -   GJ31095   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (09 Sep 2026)

(Ringed as an Adult Female, on the 23rd February 2024, at Kiltonga NR, Newtownards, Co. Down)

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Antrim Marina - Wednesday 9th September 2026...

Antrim Marina - Wednesday 9th September 2026

Regular readers of my blog might have noticed there was no post last week.  I've been on babysitting duty for Lorraine's cat.  Lorraine was on her second week on holiday at Tenerife and I couldn't get to the Lough.  Stephen was handy the week before.  'Rusty' needs watching at all times.  Aged 13 to 14 years, he is suffering from arthritis and two younger male cats keep appearing looking for a fight.

Today, I arrived at the Marina at 11:35 and departed around 3:30pm.  The visit was made in nice calm conditions with a 50/50 sky and the temperature gauge in my car read 16ºC.  The Blue/Green Algae was still present on the river, but no as thick as before.

Driving towards my usual parking spot, I immediately noticed there were not too many birds about.  A head count of the Black-headed Gulls came to 21 birds.  However, in no time at all, numbers began to increase, with a high of around 50.  This total was a trifle disappointing compared to previous weeks.  Most noticeable was the smaller number of juveniles.  Even the juvenile I named 'Tufty' was absent.  This youngster had been an ever present since I began this winter's weekly visits back at the start of August.

So far this winter, I have only recorded a total of 13 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls.  10 of these were recorded during today's visit, leaving me with 3 absentees.  Even the Welsh-rung -  2355  did not appear today.

Yesterday, Suzanne Belshaw reported one of my Marina rung Black-headed Gull's -  2FFN .  Although -  2FFN  was ringed here at the Marina in December 2020 as an adult, it appears to be a winter resident at Whiteabbey beach on the shore of Belfast Lough.  This gull appeared at the Marina on the 24th December 2025 and that was the only sighting here last winter.  I still think that this bird uses Antrim Marina as a 'staging' post and may well nest to the north-west, possibly as far away as County Donegal. 

All in all, today's visit to Antrim Marina was not too good, especially after a promising start to the winter.  I'm hoping for the situation to pick up again over the next few weeks.  The lack of returnees is beginning to worry me.  The overall total from this time last winter has dropped considerably.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FFN   -  Whiteabbey Shore, Belfast Lough, Co. Antrim  (12 Sep 2026)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 14th December 2020, at Antrim Marina, Co. Antrim)

(Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Belshaw)

The oldest colour-ringed Black-headed Gull at Antrim Marina is -  2AAN .  Ringed as an adult female in December 2012, the duration since being ringed, is now 13 years, 7 months and 28 days.  Hard to believe, the total number of sightings since 2012, now stands at 384.  It's colour ring is beginning to get into a poor condition, but I'm hoping for it to last for a couple of more years.  Having been ringed as an adult, the ring might just outlast the gull. 

Black-headed Gull  -   2AAN   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (09 Sep 2026)

(Ringed as an Adult Female, on the 21st December 2012, at Antrim Marina)

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Wednesday 9th September 2026

2FIF	2FJA	2CJT	2FHV	2FIL	2FKA	2FJT	2BRA	2AAN	2ABN

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

2CSK	2CSR	2FFT

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

At last - a ringed Mallard.  Just 22 Mallards were present on my arrival, but numbers quickly built up to the 50'ish mark.  As normal, most if not all legs were checked for rings and at 12:44 I spotted one on an adult female.  After attaching the camera to my tripod, I began zooming into the ring from different angles to obtain the full number.  It quickly became apparent, that this bird was ringed with a BTO ring, a first ever for me.

Returning to the car, I viewed the photos and the whole number was complete -  GJ31095 .  On returning home, I entered the number onto my BTO DemOn Ringing Account and discovered that this female was ringed as an adult on the 23rd February 2024.  DemOn does not show ringing locations so I will have to wait for the official recovery from the BTO.  I had hoped it would arrive with me on Friday, but that never happened.

Any other ringed Mallards I have recorded at the Marina, belonged to gun club's in County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland which had a serial number and a telephone address.  The 16 clubs collectively purchase young Mallard ducklings which are reared to flying stage and ringed before their release into the wild.  The idea is to balance out the population after birds are shot.

There was no sign of the young duckling seen on my last visit on the 25th August 2026.  It was the first and only duckling seen here all summer.

Mallard  -   GJ31095   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (09 Sep 2026)

(Waiting for the Ringing Details)

No Mute Swans were present on my arrival.  A pair arrived from upriver at 2:25pm.  One came ashore onto the slipway, but no rings.  It remained for less than three minutes before the two of them swan out onto Lough Neagh.  There has been no sign of the metal-rung -  X4707 .  I last saw this female during my first weekly visit of the winter on the 4th August 2026. Her, and her partner failed to produce any chicks this summer, having reared six chicks last year.

The resident male Herring Gull was present on my arrival and he quickly made his way over to my car once I had parked in my usual spot beside the small concrete jetty.  His partner arrived at 11:55, and she only stayed for a short time.  Their was no sign of their youngster.  At 1pm, I could hear a squealing juvenile and there it was flying down river from the direction of Antrim town.  After landing beside daddy, I soon had the two of them taking bread from my hand.  A 3rd calendar year Herring Gull arrived just after 2pm.  I'm still pretty sure, it belongs to the resident pair having hatched in 2024.

The Common Gull that was present on my arrival was a familiar bird which would land onto the roof of car to accept bits of bread (the only Common Gull ever to do this).  A second Common Gull arrived at 1:22pm and I knew this bird was different as it had yellow legs.

At 2:40pm, a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls arrived and were still present when I departed at 3:30.

Brief visits were made by a pair of Hooded Crows, a Rook and a Magpie.  Three Jackdaws were present throughout and at 2:55 a familiar Jackdaw appeared.  Remaining for around ten minutes, this 'speckled' bird was noted here on a few occasions last winter.

'Speckled' Jackdaw

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