Close Calls....

Last weekend, I was frozen to the bone at one point, whilst on the Connswater Mudflats.  Having only recently got over a head-cold, during the week that followed, my 'sniffles' returned in a big way, which was certainly not helped at work, having to work in sub-zero temperatures.  Both on Saturday and Sunday past, I opted to remain at home, as on both days, where I live in Ballymena, saw a fairly heavy fog, and temperatures close to zero.  I decided, it would be best to avoid the conditions, though I still managed to get to Antrim Marina on Monday morning.

 

Whilst at home on the Saturday, from the middle of the afternoon onwards, I was swamped with emails.  Had I been out, and returned to find that lot, I would have 'died', as it took quite a while to reply to them all, with some even having multiply exchanges.  A couple of the emails were reporting ring sightings, which I was only too happy to receive, as now, I had some content for this week's post.  A couple of the sightings were actually close calls, whether they would be excepted or not, with mixed results.

As I'm about to publish this post, it's Saturday evening, and I never got out today.  While the wife was at work, I had to remain in the house to nurse one of our three cats.  Earlier this week, 'Fat Cat', as we call her, took very ill and even spent two nights at the Vets.  Even now, she is not in good shape, and was diagnosed with a bad flu, and kidney problems.  Our other two cats, both males, know something is not right with her, and have constantly tried to investigate, so we have to make sure all are kept apart.  Having to stay home, I did some much needed work in the garden, whilst also keeping an eye on the 'puddies'.

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Black-headed Gulls at Antrim Marina - Monday 7th December 2020

Having remained at home on both Saturday and Sunday last weekend, I still had to make my weekly visit to Antrim Marina, which was on Monday 7th December 2020.  As luck would have it, the dredging operations still have not begun, so I only had to contend with the workmen, replacing the timber on the two wooden jetties.  The low wooden jetty is just about completed, with its height now greatly increased.  Some work has been done at the beginning of the long wooden jetty, but whilst I was at the Marina, this section was left alone, which helped me quite a lot.

 

All through my visit, it was a nice calm morning, following a night of heavy frost.  Indeed, while I was making my way to Antrim, from Ballymena, I passed two vehicle collisions, no doubt caused by ice on the road.  There were plenty of Black-headed Gulls throughout my visit, which may have totalled around 200 birds by 11am.  This autumn/winter season, I have recorded 26 of the study birds with colour-rings, and with the addition of 7 birds which have been caught and ringed over recent weeks, I was on the lookout for 33 colour-ringed BHGs today, plus any new returnees.

 

By the time of my departure at 12:30, I had re-sighted 22 out of the 33, so I had 11 absentees.  Shortly before my departure, I made another attempt at catching more gulls to ring.  After a couple of near misses, I did catch another first winter bird, which was duly rung -   2FFH .  This now takes the overall total to 34, to look out for next week.  Of the two gulls caught and ringed last week, only the juvenile/1st winter bird -   2FFF , was re-sighted today.

 

Another one of my study birds,   2CSS , was released at Antrim Marina, on the 3rd December 2020, having recovered from a case of Botulism.  The bird had been found sick in Antrim Town, on the 13th November 2020, and had been looked after by Debbie Nelson.  I had hoped that   2CSS  would call by the Marina today, but there was no sign of it.    2CSS , along with   2AFD , who I've recorded myself in the centre of town, have still not made their way onto my list of re-turning birds at Antrim Marina this winter.  

 

Black-headed Gull  -    2FFF   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (07 Dec 2020)

(Ringed as a Juvenile, on the 30th November 2020, at Antrim Marina)

 

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls at Antrim Marina Today - Monday 7th December 2020

2CSA	2FDJ	2FDT	2FDK	2BRA	2FDV	2ABK	2CSR
2CSK	2FFF	2CSJ	2AAA	2ABS	2FFA	2AAB	2AAR
2AAK	2ABL	2CSL	2AAN	2ABN	2CJT

Black-headed Gulls Recorded or Ringed this Autumn/Winter, but Absent Today

2ABA	2AAV	2ACV	2BRD	2CSB	2CSX
2CTA	2CTC	2FDP	2FDX	2FFC

Black-headed Gulls Caught and Ringed this Autum/Winter

2FDP	2FDT	2FDV	2FDX	2FFA	2FFC	2FFF	2FFH

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

On my visit last week, one of the cygnets had gone missing, as there were nine birds present, instead of 10.  Of the 10, three were colour-ringed by Debbie Nelson, with a fourth, having been ringed with a metal only.  Whilst there last week, only seven of the cygnets came ashore onto the slipway, but I could not account for the two colour-ringed birds.  This meant that the two youngsters out on the water, had to be colour-ringed, or one of the two was colour-ringed, with the second bird having no ring at all.

 

On my arrival today, I once again had a total of nine cygnets, but this time all came ashore.  I accounted for   NJY ,   NJZ , and the metal-rung   Z78580 , the six remaining birds being un-ringed.  The missing cygnet, is therefore   NJX .  With 'Social Distancing' in place again, I could not get my younger son up to help ring the other swans, plus his hours at work, go against that of mine.

 

7 adult Mute Swans were present, up until 10:20, when an eighth bird arrived in from the Lough.  Until recently, I would have had eight adult Mute Swans here, but a female was removed by Debbie Nelson, as the bird had swallowed Polystyrene.  Despite attempts to release the female back at the Marina, two of the males would attack the female, so Debbie had to gather her up again, and release her at a different site.  None of the eight adults were ringed, which included 'Lumpy' and her mate.

 

A winter high of 9 Common Gulls were counted at the Marina today, which were made up of seven adults, one second year bird, and a juvenile.  Among these, was my second sighting this winter of the small female Scottish metal-rung bird -   EY64036 .  I first recorded her as a juvenile here, on the 9th February 2014, having been ringed as a chick, on the 20th June 2013, at Hunterston, in North Ayrshire.    EY64036 , has been recorded every winter since 2014, but re-sightings of her here are fairly in-frequent.  The duration since being ringed, is now 7 years, 5 months and 17 days, the distance from Hunterston, being 141 kms / 87 miles (SW).

 

Common Gull  -    EY64036   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (07 Dec 2020)

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

 

The usual adult Herring Gull was present throughout my visit, but once again, there was no sign of the juvenile.  I wonder if this youngster has moved on, or worse still, has now died.  I fared slightly better today concerning other species, with 12 Jackdaws, 2 Magpies, 2 Pied Wagtails and I think, the first Chaffinch for this winter.

 

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From Debbie Nelson

On Saturday 5th December, I received an email from Debbie 'Doolittle' Nelson, who takes care of sick and injured wildlife in Northern Ireland.  On the 3rd December, Debbie had been alerted to a swan at the former Belfast Waterworks, which had reportedly been kicked in the head.  Debbie, collected the bird, and whilst in care, she gave it a thorough examination.  The bird had a colour-ring with the code reading -   CCCV , but there was no metal ring.  Having reported the swan by it's colour-marks, for some reason, Kane Brides, apparently informed Debbie, that the bird belonged to me, and had I received an email from Kane.  I do not have a swan colour-ringing project, but knew by the code, the bird belonged to Graham Prole in County Dublin.

I replied to Debbie, and copied Graham into the email.  It did not take long to receive a reply from Graham, to say that the bird did belong to him, but was surprised to learn that somehow, the bird had managed to loose it's metal-ring.    CCCV , had been ringed as a 2nd year female, on the 21st March 2019, at Bray Harbour, in County Wicklow.  The first re-sighting was reported on the 7th June 2019, and   CCCV  was still at Bray Harbour.  The next sighting saw the bird moving north over the county boundary into Co. Dublin, where it was spotted at Clontarf, on the 14th August 2019.

There were no other sightings, until Debbie took the bird into her care.  On the 5th December, Debbie attempted to release   CCCV , back onto the water at Belfast Waterworks without success.  Several males chased   CCCV  back of the lake, and Debbie had to intervene, and retrieve the swan once again.  Having fitted a new metal ring to the bird, on Sunday the 6th December,   CCCV  was released at a new location, being Lough Neagh, which is the largest inland lake in the British Isles.  A video of   CCCV   swimming away can be seen here :- https://www.facebook.com/1432003997063568/videos/386928922560944 (copy link & paste into the address bar).

 

The duration since ringing up until the bird's release, is 1 year, 8 months and 15 days, and the distance from Bray Harbour, to the Belfast Waterworks, is 157 kms / 97 miles (N).  My thanks goes to Debbie and Graham for their input, and it should be interesting to see where this swan turns up next.

Mute Swan  -    CCCV   -  Rescused at the Former Belfast Waterworks  (03 Dec 2020)

(Ringed as a 2nd Calendar Year Female, on the 21st March 2019, at Bray Harbour, Co. Wicklow, R. of Ireland)

(Photo Courtesy of Debbie Nelson)

 

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From Suzanne Belshaw

Suzanne Belshaw has been in touch again, concerning a colour-ringed Dunlin from Poland.  Having spotted the bird on Monday 7th December 2020, along the seawall of Whiteabbey Beach, Suzanne entered her sighting of (White) 6CT, onto the live 'Polish Ringing Database'.  After the sighting was excepted, Suzanne was able to see the bird's history.

 

(White) 6CT, was ringed as an un-sexed 2nd Calendar year bird, on the 7th July 2016, at UJście Wisły, on the Polish north coast.  Another Dunlin (White) RJ9, which was recorded on the same seawall at Whiteabbey in 2018 and 2019, was also ringed in July 2016, at the same site in Poland.  Suzanne had been looking for (White) RJ9, when she fell in with (White) 6CT.  I believe, this was a first re-sighting for (White) 6CT, the duration being 4 years, and 5 months.  The distance from UJście Wisły, to Whiteabbey, is 1,594 kms / 990 miles (W).

 

My thanks to Suzanne once again, for sharing the sighting, along with the photos.

 

Dunlin  -  (White)  6CT  -  Whiteabbey Beach, Belfast Lough, Co. Antrim  (07 Dec 2020)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed 2nd Calendar Year Bird, on the 7th July 2016, at UJście Wisły, Poland)

(Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Belshaw)

 

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From David Nixon and Graham McElwaine

On the 1st December 2020, I received an email from David Nixon, informing me of a gull that got away.  Having photographed a partial code on the colour-ring, the bird flew off, and David was not able to ascertain the full code.  Looking at the photo, I knew this bird would have been a Scottish-rung gull, and looking at the leg colour, I could tell that it would have been ringed last year as a chick.  As the age of the bird was known, I reckoned it would be easier to identify the gull, though the first two characters on the ring was not visible.  The first character would have been a '2' identifies all British-rung Common and Black-headed Gulls, so all we needed was the missing letter.

I emailed Iain Livingstone, with a copy of the photo showing   2*97 , and asked, was it possible to identify the bird.  Iain agreed, the leg colour was a dead giveaway concerning the birds age, but there were two possibilities -   2N97  &   2P97 .  However, Iain took a closer look at the photo, and saw that there was a slight curvature in the character hidden by the rock, so he reckoned the gull had to be   2P97  .  Both birds, had been ringed as chicks, on the 18th June 2019, at the Elvanfoot colony, in South Lanarkshire.  David's sighting of   2P97 , was the first record for the bird, the duration being, 1 year, 5 months and 13 days.  The distance from Elvanfoot to Dundrum, is 202 kms / 125 miles (SW).  David was delighted that we managed to get a result after all.

 

Black-headed Gull  -    2P97   -  Corbet Lough, near Banbridge, Co. Down  (01 Dec 2020)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 18th June 2019, at Elvanfoot, South Lanarkshire, Scotland)

(Photo Courtesy of David Nixon)

 

On Saturday 5th December 2020, both David Nixon and Graham McElwaine, were at the South Inner Bay at Dundrum in County Down.  Socially distancing from each other, they kept in contact by phone.  Whilst there, three Black-headed Gulls were recorded with White Darvics.  The first of these, was a bird which David reckoned was the same gull, which he had seen a few days before.  It bore the same apparently dirty looking ring, though all David could see, was the letters 'JN'.  To me, it looks as if the dye used for the Black characters has seeped, but Graham McElwaine, from the position where he was parked, was able to spot the full code - (White) 2AJN.

 

Having been informed of this bird, I emailed Tom Dougall, who replied to say that the gull was his.  (White) 2AJN, had been ringed as a chick by the Borders Ringing Group, on the 29th June 2013, at the Broad Law colony, in the Moorfoot Hills of Scotland.  This was the first ever sighting of the bird since being ringed, the duration being 7 years, 5 months and 6 days.  The distance from Broad Law, to Dundrum, was 246 kms / 152 miles (SW).  My thanks to Tom, for the history of this gull.

 

Black-headed Gull  -  (White)  2AJN  -  Dundrum Inner Bay, Dundrum, Co. Down  (05 Dec 2020)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 29th June 2013, at Broad Law, Moorfoot Hills, Borders Region of Scotland)

(Photo Courtesy of David Nixon)

 

Graham had already left, when David spotted a gull with a White Darvic, and just about managed to photograph the number '134', with the first character not visible.  This was another British-rung bird, so the code would be (White) 2134, which I knew, would be from a new project at Lough Ree, Co. Longford, in the Republic of Ireland.  I myself, have already recorded two of these gulls, so I reported David's sighting to Brian Burke.

Brian replied, to say that the gull was ringed as a chick, on the 10th June 2019, on Clawinch Island on Lough Ree, and David's sighting was a first for this bird.  The duration is, 1 year, 5 months and 25 days, the distance being, 161 kms / 100 miles (ENE), to Dundrum.

My thanks to Brian for the ringing details, and just recently I watched a film of Brian working with terns at Rockabill during the past summer.  The island is famed by the large number of Roseate Terns that nest there.  Well worth watching, the film can be viewed (here).

Black-headed Gull  -  (White)  2134  -  Dundrum Inner Bay, Dundrum, Co. Down  (05 Dec 2020)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 10th June 2019, on Clawinch Island, Lough Ree, Co. Longford, R. of Ireland)

(Photo Courtesy of David Nixon)

 

The third of the three Black-headed Gulls with White Darvic's, was one which David did not pick up.  Graham emailed me concerning the bird, which was rung with either (White) EC4K or (White) CC4K.  Although Graham was certain of the last three characters 'C4K', but could not determine the first character, which he belived was either an 'E', which would have meant the bird was from Holland, or a 'C', this one having come from Finland.

I sent a joint email, to Frank Majoor in Holland, and the Finnish Museum, in the hope, just one of them would have a Black-headed Gull, whose ring code ended in 'C4K'.  Replies came back, with both countries having a Black-headed Gull with that ring code.  I replied, to suggest that they disregard the sighting due to the inconclusive sighting.

Both countries, actually sent me the ringing dates for their birds.  The Dutch-rung bird - (White) EC4K, seemed the most likely of the two, having been ringed in April 2015, whilst the Finnish gull, had been ringed in June 2001.  Graham suggested, that had the bird been from Finland, the Darvic would have been very worn.  The problem here, is that colour-ringing is a more recent event, and it may have been possible, that the bird had been re-captured and the Darvic added on a later date.  Any such details, were not disclosed in my reply from Finland.

 

One avenue of trying to find out where the birds had come from, was the placement of the colour-ring, whether right leg, or left leg.  I couldn't go down this avenue, as Graham in his email, was uncertain as to which leg bore the colour-ring.  For now, we can only hope that either Graham, or David re-sights this bird again.  I really hope that the bird is from Finland, as I have never heard of a colour-ringed Black-headed Gull from that country, which has been colour-ringed.  On my spreadsheet, I have seven Finnish Black-headed Gulls, whose metals only, have been successfully read.

 

My thanks goes to both David and Graham, it was good to obtain results for the other gulls.

 

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Death of a Gull

On the 3rd of December 2020, I received an email from my Ringing Trainer - John Clarke.  Attached was a photo, which John received via 'WhatsApp', and it was thought that the photo was taken at Bangor in County Down.  John requested further information from the observer, but did not receive a reply.  I informed John, that   M75:M , was from the Isle of Man, and I reckoned it was a Great Black-backed Gull.

 

Great Black-backed Gull  -    M75:M   -  Bangor, Co. Down  (03 Dec 2020)

(Photo Courtesy of an Unknown Source)

 

While waiting for more information through John, on Saturday 5th December, Garry, from the Northern Ireland Birdwatchers Association, emailed me requesting information, on a colour-ringed gull which had been found that day, at Kilkeel Harbour, also in County Down.

  M75:M , was found dead by an unknown observer, who had sent a photo to the NIBA.  I responded to Garry, to say that the gull was from the Isle of Man, and I copied in the ringing co-ordinator - Mark Fitzpatrick.

 

At first, there was a bit of confusion on the ringing and re-sighting details for   M75:M .  When I went to submit the recent sightings on the DemOn Ringing Database, dates of previous sightings did not tally, so I contacted Mark about these.  When I received a corrected email, I once again tried to submit the recent details, but this time, DemOn was telling me, that the bird had been reported dead a long time ago.  Once again, I had to write back to Mark, who seemed to be a bit confused by what was happening, and stated that he would investigate further into the problem.

Mark in his reply, confirmed that the gull, was a Great Black-backed Gull, which had been ringed as a chick, on the 18th July 2020, and not on the 14th July 2019, as previously stated.  What had happened, was that another gull ringed with   M75:M , had been found dead, and it's colour-ring had been removed and re-cycled.  The new   M75:M , was  re-sighted, still on the Calf of Man, on the 6th September 2020, which was the last time that the gull was heard of, until the two records reported to me.  The cause of death was unknown, and the duration since being ringed, was 1 year, 4 months and 21 days.  The distance from the Calf, to Kilkeel Harbour, is 76 kms / 47 miles (W).

The observers concerning the two photographs are unknown, but I thank them anyway, for informing John and Garry.  A sad end for this young bird, though many others will suffer the same fate, as they will not make it through the coming winter.

 

Great Black-backed Gull  -    M75:M   -  Kilkeel Harbour, Kilkeel, Co. Down  (05 Dec 2020)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 18th July 2020, on the Calf of Man, Isle of Man)

(Photo Courtesy of an Unknown Source)

 

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