Avian Flu....

Another hard week has just passed by like a flash.  I have been so busy both at home and at work, and I'm still labouring with my now faulty laptop.  I think the older you get, the quicker time flashes by.  A day to me now seems to pass in a few hours, whereas, as a child, a day seemed to last forever.  Always so much to do!!

 

Another couple of interesting returnees have been reported this week, though at Antrim Marina and at other sites, gull numbers appear to be going down instead of up for some bizarre reason.  Despite two recent storms in the British Isles, Northern Ireland avoided the most severe conditions, which should have seen an increase in gull numbers.

 

Is the Avian Bird Flu, taking a toll on our birds?  There have been a few cases reported in Northern Ireland of late, including an outbreak near where I live in Ballymena.  An email from the BTO, has meant I cannot ring any birds in a 10 km radius of the town.  This will not effect me really, as any ringing I do at this time of the year, is at Antrim Marina, well outside of the exclusion zone.  Ironic really, as earlier this year, the 'Second Covid Lockdown', meant I could ring in an area close to home, but Antrim was outside of the 10 mile 'Stay at Home Rule'.  Belfast's former Waterworks appears to have taken quite a hit, with numerous Mute Swans having either died or caught the virus.

 

Last Saturday, I stayed at home, as by the time I was ready to go out, high winds and heavy rain would not be too good for my optical equipment.  Not only that, the whole afternoon saw poor light, which is no good when having to take photos at range.  On publishing my previous post, I hadn't checked on the status of the tides, which on checking, were not favourable for Sunday's outing.  This meant a fairly late start to the day, so thoughts of County Down flew out the window.

_________________________________________________________________________________

 

Antrim Marina - Monday 6th December 2021

Today's visit to Antrim Marina, was the worst weather-wise that I have ever experienced here.  With overnight rain have passed by, I arrived at the Marina around 09:10, only to find that I could not get my car into the front car park.  The Optical Recognition Registering System, was either not reading my car's number plate, ot the local Council has removed my car from access.  This meant I had to park my car beside the 'Gateway Centre', and had to walk round the building in order to view the gulls.  A very strong, bitter wind, was blowing in from Lough Neagh, which left me freezing throughout the visit.  On a couple of occasions, I was so cold that I couldn't feel my toes, and my fingers were throbbing.  I then had to retreat to my car in order to warm up.

The reason the Council allowed me access in the first place, was that they knew that I was studying the gulls here, and that I needed the car in, so as to give me some protection from the elements.  During the worst of the winter months, some protection is dearly needed when on site for a few hours at a time.  Also, with not having the car parked beside the slipway, there was no chance of catching any further birds to be ringed, as my car was now parked too far away where I can comfortably ring the birds.

 

With two more adult Black-headed Gulls caught and ringed on last Monday's visit, I arrived here today with my winter list reading, that I was on the lookout for 53 colour-rings altogether, plus any further returnees.  I departed from the Marina slightly earlier than normal, as at midday, I had had enough of the cold weather.  The time gained having left earlier, gave me a chance to have a quick look at other sites around the town of Antrim.

 

The first gull to be recorded at the Marina today, was -   2FIA  at 09:15, and my 31st and final ring to be read at 11:36, was that of -   2FDJ , which had been spotted in Estonia, back in April of this year.  The overall total meant that I had 22 absentees today.  I was especially looking out for the last three gulls that I caught and ringed recently, so as to obtain my first photos of the three.  Two of the three were spotted today, the first being my 19th sighting of the day at 09:48 of -   2FIH , which was ringed here last Monday, but no sign of other -   2FIF , which was also ringed last Monday.  Both birds were ringed as un-sexed adults.  The second of the three gulls -   2FIC , was my 23rd sighting at 10:19.  This one was ringed as an un-sexed juvenile two weeks ago (photos below).

 

Black-headed Gull  -    2FIH   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (06 Dec 2021)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Adult, on the 29th November 2021, at Antrim Marina)

 

Black-headed Gull  -    2FIC   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (06 Dec 2021)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Juvenile/1st Winter Bird, on the 22nd November 2021, at Antrim Marina)

 

In my post last week, I reported on how gutted I was to see -   2FDV , lying with a badly injured or broken leg, as this 2nd year bird is one of my 'stars' at the Marina.  Having been metal-rung as a chick, in Stockton-on-Tees in England, I caught and colour-ringed the then juvenile at the Marina last winter.  Having last recorded it at the Marina on the 12th April 2021, the bird returned for a second winter on the 11th October 2021.  On seeing the gull last Monday, it was looking very sorry for itself, and I feared that this could be the end for this one.  I had been looking forwards to the day that it would be re-sighted back at it's natal colony in England.  Today, there was no sign of -   2FDV .

 

An estimated 70 Black-headed Gulls were present when I arrived today.  Despite poor weather conditions over recent days, numbers averaged only 70 to 80 birds throughout my visit.  This is the second week running where the overall numbers have remained fairly low, and normally for this time of the year, numbers should be around to 200 mark, if not far higher.  I'm finding this extremely disappointing, and the reason for this is not clear.  With the likes of the Polish -   2AAR , not being recorded for two weeks running, it makes you wonder.  Whenever -   2AAR  arrives back, he is usually present throughout most visits.

 

Two of today's sightings were of note, as both birds had not been recorded for several weeks, and I had been wondering about them.  One was -   2AAA , which was the first gull to be ringed belonging to Adam McClure's former Northern Ireland Study.  Ringed in November 2012, my last sighting was made on the 1st November 2021.  The second bird was -   2CSR , last recorded on the 6th November 2021.  When regular weekly visitors go absent for a while, it does make one think, do they have some other agenda?  

 

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Monday 6th December 2021

2FIA	2ABL	2CTC	2FDK	2ABN	2FHT	2ABK	2ACV
2FFA	2FHA	2BRA	2CSB	2AAA	2FFF	2FFJ	2CJT
2ABK	2FFX	2FIH	2AAN	2CSL	2FHC	2FIC	2CSA
2CSR	2CSJ	2FFP	2ABS	2FHP	2FHL	2FDJ

Black-headed Gull Recorded or Ringed This Autumn/Winter but Absent Today

2AAB	2AAR	2ABA	2AFD	2BRD	2CSK	2CSX	2CTA
2FDT	2FDV	2FFC	2FFL	2FFN	2FFT	2FHF	2FHH
2FHJ	2FHK	2FHN	2FHV	2FHX	2FIF

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

The first thing to catch my eye, as I walked from the car par, was the number of Mute Swans on the slipway.  12 birds were counted in all, which is the highest total so far this winter.  11 were all white, whilst the 12th was a juvenile which I had not seen here until now. It was a very large individual and sported 50/50 white/brown plumage.  Shortly after my arrival, this juvenile swam out towards Lough Neagh, so was likely to be unrelated to the other swans.

Most of the swans were actually lying down with their heads buried into their backs, which no doubt gave them some respite from the wind.  Later on, when most were on the move, I then noticed one bird with a metal ring.  On taking a few photos, the ring number read -   Z78580 .

 

  Z78580 , was one of four juveniles that were ringed at the Marina, on the 15th November 2020 by Debbie Nelson.  Debbie had been at the Marina for an event which was cancelled at the last minute, so she decided to ring the four juveniles with the help of Aidan Crean.  At the time, Debbie only had three colour-rings with her, so -   Z78580  being the fourth ringed, did not get a colour-ring as well.  I have been hoping that those juveniles would reappear at some stage.  The duration for this bird, is now 1 year and 21 days.  My last sighting of the then juvenile, was on the 26th April 2021.

 

Around 10am, a pair of Mute Swans, along with 4 cygnets arrived from upriver.  The only stayed at the slipway for around 15 minutes before the whole family party flew out towards the Lough.

 

Mute Swan  -    Z78580   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (06 Dec 2021)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Juvenile/1st Winter Bird, on the 15th November 2020, at Antrim Marina)

 

Mallards numbers remained fairly static throughout my visit, with counts of 60 to 70 birds.  As usual, most were checked for rings.

 

One adult, and one juvenile Common Gulls were present when I arrived.  Throughout the morning the Common Gulls were coming and going, and at one point, I counted a maximum of 5 adults, plus the presumed same juvenile.  No sign today of the Scottish-rung bird.  My usual adult Herring Gull appeared just before 10am, and then remained throughout the remainder of my visit.

 

A count of 10 Jackdaws today, is I think, a winter's high.  One Hooded Crow, a pair of Magpie's and a pair of Pied Wagtails were also noted.

 

Other Sites Around Antrim Town

Having departed slightly earlier than normal, I had a quick look at three other sites around the town of Antrim.  I drove up through the town, and on passing the Castle Way car park, I could see a very large number of Black-headed Gulls perched on the rooftops.  Within the car park, there was too much activity, so it was not practical to waste time in luring the birds down.

 

I stopped by the Elim Church on the Parkhall Housing Estate.  Here, I was still hoping to record one of Adam's earliest ringed BHG's -   2AAV .  Having been ringed at Antrim Marina in December 2012, my last sighting for this bird was at Antrim Marina, on the 14th December 2020.  When not at the Marina,   2AAV  would often be found at the Elim Church.  With just 13 BHGs, and 2 Common Gulls at the Church today, there was no sign of my target bird.  As -   2AAV , has not been seen at the Marina this winter, I'm now fairly sure this bird no longer exists.

 

Moving onto the nearby KFC car park, not a single gull was present.  Normally, there would be variable sized flocks of BHG's here, and on two occasions this winter, I have recorded a metal-rung German Black-headed Gull which has returned for the second winter running.

 

My final stop before heading back home, was at Antrim's Baptist Church.  At times, large numbers of Black-headed Gulls can be perched on the roof of the Church, but once again, not a single gull was present.  I had hoped for a second re-sighting of the winter of a Polish colour-ringed BHG, and was also hoping to re-sight a metal-rung bird from Scotland.

 

On leaving and driving back home to Ballymena, my thoughts turned to the lack of Black-headed Gulls.  Why are the numbers so low, and where are these birds going too?  Surely they have to be somewhere local, but where?  On passing the Junction One shopping centre, on the outskirts of the town, I could not see any gulls there either - what is going on?

 

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

Sunday 5th December 2021

By the time that I was ready to go out yesterday, the windy and wet conditions persuaded me to remain at home.  Today, saw brighter, drier conditions though the slight breeze made for a chilly outing.  With high tide forecasted for around 11:10, it was pointless heading out too early.  I had planned to start off in Belfast, before heading further south into County Down, but with the tide being so late to recede, I now decided to start off at Glynn and work my way towards Belfast.

Arriving at Glynn railway station, the tide had just started to go out, but I had to wait for a while before gulls began to arrive.  Despite being here for the best part of two hours, overall gull numbers remained very low, with the majority of these being the larger Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls.  Normally, Glynn is a good site for large number of Common Gulls, but today saw less than thirty birds.  What was really surprising here, was that there were no Oystercatchers.  Again, under normal circumstances, the shore at Glynn often sees quite high numbers of these birds.

 

I had wasted a lot of time for no results, and as it gets dark quite early now, I decided to go straight towards Belfast and the Connswater mudflats.  Arriving here, the area was still quite flooded, so I moved on to Kinnegar Beach, and would return to Connswater later.

 

Within minutes of arriving at Kinnegar Beach, I scoped a distant Black-headed Gull with a White Darvic on the rocky causeway which protects to pipes leading into Belfast Lough from the adjacent sewage works.  Walking to get closer, the bird remained where I had seen it, despite a dog walker having disturbed some of the other birds there.  Taking photos, I could read - (White)  EE5R on the ring and I could remember this bird from a couple of year's ago.

 

Indeed, on returning home and consulting my Ring Reading Spreadsheet, I had spotted (White) EE5R, on the 19th December 2018, which is, as far as I know, it's only ever sighting in Northern Ireland.  (White) EE5R, had been ringed as an un-sexed 2nd Calendar year bird, on the 21st May 2016, at Harlingen in Holland.  It was re-sighted in Harlingen in May 2017, and twice in April 2018, before my first sighting here on Kinnegar Beach.  I sent an email to the ringer, Date Butterlope, but as yet, I have received no reply.  Surely, someone has spotted this gull since my sighting in December 2018.

 

The distance from Harlingen to Kinnegar Beach, is 743 kms / 461 miles (WNW), and the duration since being ringed, is now 5 years, 6 months and 14 days.

 

Black-headed Gull  -  (White)  EE5R  -  Kinnegar Beach, Belfast Lough, Co. Down  (05 Dec 2021)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed 2nd Calendar Year Bird, on the 21st May 2016, at Harlingen, Griend, Holland)

Whilst I was looking through the viewfinder of my camera, to take photos of the Black-headed Gull, a colour-ringed Oystercatcher passed by the gull, moving from right to left.  As soon as I got my photos of (White) EE5R, I quickly spotted the Oystercatcher and captured the colour-codes on it's legs.

 

Not so long ago, I recorded another Oystercatcher here at Kinnegar Beach with a similar coded white ring.  What I forgot to mention in that sighting, was that these new white coded rings were made by a supplier in Canada.  The characters on these rings, are thinner than those previously used, so I knew straight away, that this bird had been ringed this summer, which was the first time that these new coded rings were used.

 

My bird today was ringed Green over Red on the left leg, with White JK on the right leg - GR-W(JK).  I sent an email to Boddi in Iceland, who replied on Monday morning.  GR-W(JK), was ringed as an un-sexed adult, on the 17th May 2021, in the Réttarholt area in south-west Iceland.  My sighting at Kinnegar is the first since the bird was ringed, the duration being, 6 months and 18 days since being ringed.  I submitted my sighting to the BTO, but as yet I have no received a recovery with an offical distance.

 

In the past couple of years, I have recorded several other Icelandic colour-ringed Oystercatchers, but not one of those birds have been re-sighted here so far this winter.

 

Oystercatcher  -  GR-W(JK)  -  Kinnegar Beach, Belfast Lough, Co. Down  (06 Dec 2021)

(Ringed as an Un-sexed Adult, on the 17th May 2021, at Réttarholt, SW Iceland)

I went on to scope a distant Herring Gull, whose yellow Darvic, was just peeking out behind the birds right leg.  As I rested my camera on top of my telescope, two dogs raced across the beach to deliberatley chase the gulls.  The owner was a long way off to my left, but the gulls quickly scattered.  It took a while, but I eventually found my Herring Gull again, a long way out on the same causeway where I had spotted the Dutch Black-headed Gull.

Zooming a long ways out, I captured the code -   2C:W , which I did not recognise.  Back at home, I ran the code through my spreadsheet, to find that I had previously seen the same bird on this very same beach.    2C:W , had been ringed as an un-sexed adult, on the 4th May 2015, on Big Copeland Island, also in County Down.  My previous sighting, made here on the 28th November 2020, was the first re-sighting since the gull was ringed.  As far as I know, my two sightings are the only ones for this bird.  The duration is now 6 years, 7 months and 1 day since being ringed, and the distance from Big Copeland to Kinnegar Beach, is 21 kms / 13 miles (W).

 

Herring Gull  -    2C:W   -  Kinnegar Beach, Belfast Lough, Co. Down  (06 Dec 2021)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Adult, on the 4th May 2015, on Big Copeland Island, Co. Down)

 

I stayed at Kinnegar for as long as I could, but with no further rings spotted, I had to move towards the Connswater mudflats before the light began to fade.  Here, I'm still hoping to re-sight several European Black-headed Gulls which I recorded here last winter.  With the tide now fully out, around 100 Black-headed Gulls were now present, but not a single colour-ringed bird was spotted.  One Black-headed Gull had a tall metal-ring, so this bird is likely to be from Finland or Iceland.  The distance between the two of us, was far too great for photos.

 

Lapwing numbers also exceeded the one hundred mark, but on scoping through them, one bird was carrying a metal ring.  I did record one Lapwing here last winter with a metal ring, so this could well be that same bird.  A handful of Oystercatchers were also busily feeding on the mudflats, but there was no sign of any of the three colour-ringed birds from Scotland, that had also been spotted here last winter.  As I made my way to my car, it was beginning to get dark, so time for home and some heat. 

 

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

 

From Cameron Moore

On Tuesday the 7th December, I received an email from Cameron Moore to say that he had spotted the Danish Black-headed Gull - (White) 5HA.  Over the last couple of week's, Cameron had been watching out for the return of this bird for another winter.  In my previous post, I reported on a colour-ringed Common Gull spotted by Cameron, and in the email concerning that sighting, Cameron had said that there was no sign of (White) 5HA, who would normally returns to Whitehead in early to mid November.

(White) 5HA, was ringed as an adult male, on the 28th March 2015, at Gentofte, which lies to the north of the capital of Copenhagen.  The first re-sighting after being ringed, was made by Cameron, on the 26th November 2016, when the bird first appeared at Whitehead.  The gull has returned to Whitehead every winter since then, and there has only been the one re-sighting back in Denmark, where the gull was spotted back at Gentofte.

 

This latest sighting is the 26th record for the bird on my spreadsheet, and the key dates are as follows :-

 

28th March 2015 - Ringed at Gentofte in Denmark.

26th November 2016 - Whitehead, Departed after the 28th February 2017.

14th November 2017 - Whitehead, Departed after the 26th February 2018.

16 April 2017 - Gentofte, Denmark.

18th November 2018 - Whitehead, Departed after the 23rd February 2019.

14th December 2019 - Whitehead, Last seen on the 20th January 2020 (the only two sightings that winter)

9th November 2020 - Whitehead, Departed after the 6th March 2021 (again, just two sightings last winter)

7th December 2021 - Whitehead.

 

The earlier re-sightings shows that (White) 5HA, is a rather late returnee, but always departs in late February or early March.  The last two winters shows a lack of re-sightings, but I think that this is due to effort, rather than the bird being absent.  The duration since being ringed, is now 6 years, 8 months and 9 days, and the distance from Gentofte, is 1,160 kms / 720 miles west.  I have emailed Kjeld Tommy Pedersen concerning the bird's return, but as yet, there has been no reply.

 

Later on Tuesday, Cameron sent a second email, with the latest photo of (White) 5HA attached.  My thanks once again goes to Cameron for the sighting report along with the photo.

 

Black-headed Gull  -  (White)  5HA  -  Whitehead, Belfast Lough, Co. Antrim  (07 Dec 2021)

(Ringed as an Adult Male, on the 28th March 2015, at Gentofte, Copenhagan, Denmark)

 

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

 

From Francis Young

The sighting of a colour-ringed juvenile Great Black-backed Gull arrived with me in a roundabout way.  Francis Young spotted the juvenile, ringed -   U55:M , on his fishing boat which was moored at Portavogie Harbour in County Down.  Francis, only recently joined the 'Ring Reading' community, having spotted two other colour-ringed gulls in recent months - GBB Gull's -   T7VZ  from the Isle of Man, and -   R72:D  ringed on Dalkey Island in Co. Dublin.

Francis emailed Graham Prole about his latest sighting made on the 2nd December 2021.  Graham is the ringing co-ordinator for the Irish Midlands Ringing Group, and noted that -   U55:M  was from the Isle of Man, so he re-routed the email to Mark Fitzpatrick.

 

Mark then replied to say that   U55:M  belonged to them, and said that the bird was ringed as a chick, on the 14th July 2021, on the Calf of Man.  The young gull was spotted on the mainland of the Isle of  Man, on the 3rd September 2021, which was it's last sighting before crossing the Irish Sea to reach Portavogie Harbour.  Mark copied me into Francis's reply, as I submit all ring sightings for the gulls belonging to the Isle of Man, which are spotted here in Northern Ireland.  I do likewise for the Irish Midlands RG, The Clyde RG in Scotland, and for the Copeland Island gulls here in Northern Ireland, as I have all of the sighting localities set up on my BTO DemOn Ringing Account.

 

The distance from the Calf of Man to Portavogie Harbour, is 60 kms / 37 kms (WNW), and the duration since being ringed, is now 4 months and 18 days.  I have no doubts, that colour-ringed gulls frequently land on many fishing boats.  The crews are bound to spot them, but have no idea on how to report their sightings.  Earlier this year, I made a suggestion to Katherine Booth-Jones, who is the BTO's NI Rep.  My idea, was that in collaboration with the County Down Councils, that large notice boards could be placed at all major fishing harbours, outlining the colour-ringing of gulls, with the inclusion of contact addresses for reporting sightings.  This would encourage more sightings to be reported by the fisherman and members of the public.  At the time Katherine thought this was a great idea, but as time has passed, I think she has forgotten about this.

 

My thanks goes to Francis, for reporting his sightings, along with the photos.  Sightings aid everyone's projects and are extremely welcomed by all - we really need more fisherman taking part.

 

Juvenile Great Black-backed Gull  -    U55:M   -  Portavogie Harbour, Portavogie, Co. Down  (02 Dec 2021)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 14th July 2021, on the Calf of Man, Isle of Man)

(Photo Courtesy of Francis Young)

 

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