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

****************************************************************************************