Locations Disaster...

Last weekend, saw very pleasant conditions weather wise on Saturday, so I managed to get out for a few hours during the afternoon.  Sunday morning began with quite heavy rain and fairly strong winds, but the forecast was for calmer conditions in the afternoon.  To kill a few hours, I set about adding photos and blog entries via hyperlinks onto my main Ring Sightings Spreadsheet.  At the same time, I also edited some of the locations where there were slight differences for the entries for particular sighting locations.

I used the filter for locations to isolate these same sites, and amended those that had two or three slight variations so as they would all read the same.  All was going well, but, as I was about to finish off, with the weather fast improving, disaster struck.  For some reason, having isolated Duncannon Strand, where there was three slight differences, having edited these, somehow for reasons I could not explain, they edited entries also ended up going through all of the ringing and re-sighting entries through most of my spreadsheet despite these not being filtered.

The spreadsheet is in species, metal and darvic order for indexing, and begins with Barnacle Geese through to Whooper Swans.  From half way through the Common Gulls to half way through Sandwich Terns, all ringing and re-sighting locations now read Duncannon Strand, Co. Wexford, Republic of Ireland.

I'm now left with several thousands of entries that have to be corrected.  I'm fairly confident that everything can be restored, as I have BTO Recoveries and PDF Files hyperlinked into the spreadsheet, as well as using my blog entries, and even individual spreadsheets copied from my main Ring Reading spreadsheet, which were added onto emails when replying to other observers.

Because of this, I began reworking the spreadsheet straight away on Sunday and throughout the week, and at a guess, I reckon that half of those locations have now been reinstated.  I could have 'died' at the time, as the spreadsheet is now close to 17,000 entries altogether, but I'm getting there.

As my car failed it's MOT last Thursday due to a couple of minors, my mechanic could not take the car back in to this Thursday.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed, that I will get it back by Saturday morning, otherwise I'm going to be grounded for another weekend.

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Antrim Marina - Monday 14th March 2022

Last Monday (7th March), I was unable to get to Antrim Marina for my weekly visit, as I did not get my car back from my mechanic, until nearly 2pm.  I had left the car in, for the fluids to be checked, as well as the filter on my washer bottle having to be cleaned.  The water was hardly touching the windscreen, which I think would be a fail.  I then put the car through it's MOT on Thursday 10th March, where it failed on a pitted brake pipe running past the fuel tank, and a Link of some sort.

Although I managed to get to Antrim Marina on Monday the 14th, Graham McElwaine had visited the Marina on Saturday the 12th, and recorded four of my colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls.  Graham's visit was late in the afternoon, and he said the Marina was very busy, though I expect this was people and not gulls, seeing as it was a good sunny day.

O the four gulls that he recorded, only -  2FHC , was not spotted during my visit on Monday.  Graham sent photos for his four sightings, but at present, there is an issue with Yahoo emails, as the photos are not showing and therefore cannot be downloaded.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Spotted by Graham McElwaine on Saturday 12th March 2022

2FIA	2FHC	2AAK	2FHL

With my wife off work today, I elected to begin my visit to Antrim Marina to start at a later time, which meant that I could have a lie in, instead of returning home for a couple of hours sleep before starting the evening shift at work.  Arriving at 10:45, early morning rain had cleared, leaving  50/50 cloud cover, with a slight breeze coming in from Lough Neagh.  Around 50 Black-headed Gulls were present, with several pairs in full courtship display, including -  2ABK , the first colour-ring spotted straight away.

As the morning wore on, gulls were obviously coming and going, judging by the colour-ringed birds which were being recorded as the gulls trickled in.  Overall numbers of colour-rings spotted, built up at a very slow pace, with the final bird -  2ABL , taking the total up to 20 sightings by the time of my departure at 2:45.  This winter, a total of 40 gulls ringed over previous winters were recorded altogether, plus 15 new birds were caught and ringed, taking the overall total to 55.

Among the 20 colour-rings recorded today, was that of -  2FHX , at 12:18.  This gull was caught and ringed here, on the 8th November 2021, and was re-sighted for three weeks in a row, and then disappeared until now.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FHX   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (14 Mar 2022)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed 2nd Winter bird, on the 8th November 2021, at Antrim Marina)

Another re-sighting of interest is that of the juvenile -  2FHJ .  It was ringed as a 1st winter bird here, on the 6th September 2021, but since the turn of the year, had only been re-sighted at the Marina on two occasions - 3rd January 2022, and on the 7th February 2022.  It was pleasing to record this young gull again, and having survived the winter, it's chances to progress in life should be quite good.

Juvenile Black-headed Gull  -   2FHJ   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (14 Mar 2022)

(Ringed as a 1st Winter Bird, on the 6th September 2021, at Antrim Marina)

None of my gulls which we know travels to other countries to breed over the summer months were recorded today, so it wouldn't surprise me if they are all on their way back home.

Many of the gulls are now sporting their Chocolate Brown Hoods, which they adorn during the breeding season.  I've added five of today's sightings, which have just about fully developed hoods.  The first of these is -  2CJT , which is a year round resident to Antrim Marina.  Having said that, for some reason,  2CJT  popped over to Scotland in February 2021, where it was spotted at Lochwinnoch, before returning to Antrim Marina in April 2021.  It appears to behaving itself, which no exterritorial  expeditions this spring.  

Black-headed Gull  -   2CJT   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (14 Mar 2022)

(Ringed as a 1st Winter Bird, on the 4th December 2016, at Antrim Marina)

Black-headed Gull  -   2CSK   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (14 Mar 2022)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Adult, on the 17th December 2017, at Antrim Marina)

Black-headed Gull  -   2FFX   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (14 Mar 2022)

(Ringed as a 1st Winter bird, on the 21st December 2020, at Antrim Marina)

Black-headed Gull  -   2FHA  -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (14 Mar 2022)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Adult, on the 28th December 2020, at Antrim Marina)

Black-headed Gull  -   2FIF   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (14 Mar 2022)

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

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Monday 14th March 2022

2ABK	2FHA	2AAA	2CSR	2FDT	2FIF	2CSK	2AAB	2CJT	2AAK
2FFX	2BRA	2FIA	2FHX	2FHJ	2FHP	2CSB	2ABS	2FHL	2ABL

All winter, I have been complaining about the lack of ring sightings belonging to other projects, but today, I had two ringed Black-headed Gulls at the Marina.  The first of these, was what I thought was one of my own gulls, until I scoped a very dirty looking ring which read -  2K48 .  Having contacted Kane Brides, I learnt that -  2K48 , had been ringed as an un-sexed adult bird, on the seafront at Southport on Merseyside England, on the 25th January 2022.

With a duration since being ringed, just 1 month and 17 days, could it be possible, that -  2K48  breeds here on Lough Neagh, and winter's in Southport.  It will be interesting to see whether this bird is recorded here during the breeding season.  The distance from Southport, is 241 kms / 149 miles (WNW).  My thanks goes to Kane for supplying the ringing info, despite getting our 'wires' crossed at one point.  I forgot to remove my sighting off from my BTO DemOn account, as Kane' Ringing Group, now has an automated system for reporting their ring sightings :- Report Sighting.

Black-headed Gull  -   2K48   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (14 Mar 2022)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Adult, on the 25th January 2022, at Southport, Merseyside, England)

As mentioned several times over the winter, one bird especially, presents me with a 'headache' at times. This Black-headed Gull -  2ABL , managed to loose it's colour ring some time back, and now has to be identified by it's metal number.  Should -  2ABL  appear early during my visits, I have to repeatedly read it's metal number, just in case it is another gull.

When I spotted a metal-rung Black-headed Gull today, I instantly knew it was not -  2ABL , as this bird had a taller metal ring, than those belonging to the BTO.  Perched on the low wooden jetty, I had problems trying to find angles in which I could photograph the ring.  Once I saw the word Iceland on the 'ring butts', I knew I was looking for six numbers and no letters.  Without scaring the gull off, I tempted the gulls to move about by flicking bits of bread onto the jetty.  This did the trick, and I managed to get all six numbers -  527908 , which on site, I had no recollection of.

On returning home, I ran the number through my main Ring Reading Spreadsheet, and I was in for a surprise.  I had recorded this very same gull here at the Marina, on the 4th January 2021, which had been my last visit, before the second 'Covid Lockdown'.

 527908 , had been ringed as a chick, on the 21st June 2013, at a colony in the Stokkseyri area, on the south-west coast of Iceland.  The first re-sighting of -  527908 , occurred on the 7th January 2017, when the gull was recorded at Victoria Park in Glasgow, Scotland.  My sighting last year, was the second sighting, and having reported my latest sighting to Iceland, this is now the third record for the gull.

If the gull had wintered around Antrim Town, I would have spotted it at some point over the winter, so I now think the gull is using the Marina as a staging post on it's return home.  The duration since being ringed, is now 8 years, 8 months and 21 days, and the distance from Stokkseyri to Antrim Marina, is 1,314 kms / 816 miles (SE).  

Black-headed Gull  -   527908   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (14 Mar 2022)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 21st June 2013, at Stokkseyri, Árnessýsla, Iceland)

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

A large number of Mute swans were either on or just off the slipway when I arrived this morning.  A headcount gave a total of 16 adult/white birds, along with 6 cygnets.  There were no further arrivals, and later during the morning, a couple of pairs swam out towards the Lough.  I'm fairly sure, that all legs were checked, with the usual two ringed birds being recorded again -  Z78574  and  Z78580 .  I'm still hoping for the return of -  W34156 , who I last recorded here on the 23rd March 2020.  The second 'Covid Lockdown' prevented visits at this time last year, so I have no idea whether the bird returned last spring.

Mallards numbered around 30 on my arrival, and another count shortly before I departed, gave a total of around 65 to 70 birds.  As usual, most legs were checked, but still no rings.

A pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls were present throughout my latest visit.  My resident Herring Gull did not appear until midday, but a second Herring Gull which arrived with him, is not the same female he has been with over past weeks.  That bird, had a very slender head and neck, nothing like today's bird.  Has 'an old flame' turned up?, and he has dumped the other bird.

Just two Commons Gulls were recorded today, an adult at 13:55, and a juvenile at 14:15.  The numbers for these gulls have remained extremely low all winter.  I doubt very much if I'll record the small metal-rung female from Scotland, until next autumn.  Having returned early this winter, on the 16th August 2021, she was only recorded on five occasions in total, and has not been seen since the 3rd January 2022.  The latest ever spring sighting of -  EY64036  , was recorded on the 15th March 2015.

10 Jackdaws, a male Grey Wagtail, and a male Pied Wagtail, were the only other species noted.

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Saturday 12th March 2022

After doing a few chores down town today, I finally set off in the early afternoon.  With an incoming tide, I was not too sure in what direction to travel, but as time was limited, I set off towards Larne Lough.  On reaching the railway platform of Glynn Station, the tide was still a long way off, and gull and wader numbers were extremely low.  I stayed for at least an hour scoping through everything, but the only rings spotted were on Brent Geese.  I don't even bother trying to record rings on these birds now, as I've still received no feed back on the last birds that I reported.

I was tempted to move on to the coastal town of Whitehead, but changed my mind, as I reckoned I'd be better off heading northwards to Cushendall, seeing as time was limited.  My target at Whitehead, would be to obtain a second sighting of a Danish colour-ringed Black-headed Gull.  This bird returns to Whitehead every winter, but I've only had the single sighting report this winter.  Having changed my mind, an email from Ian Enlander proved very useful (read below).

After leaving Glynn, I checked all of the usual sites up towards Cushendall, including a Peregrine Falcon site near Glenarm.  Gull numbers all along the coast were very poor, and the only ring recorded during the whole afternoon, was got at Carnlough Bay.

This belonged to an Oystercatcher, rung Orange over Orange on the left leg, with a White Darvic reading 'AA' on the right leg - OO-W(AA).  The bird was ringed as a breeding adult in the summer of 2016, and first appeared at Carnlough Bay, on the 10th August 2016, and has returned every winter since.  This winter, I recorded the bird back at Carnlough, on the 4th September 2021, and I reckon that I was lucky the bird was still here today, as according to Boddi in Iceland, some of their Oystercatchers have already begun to arrive back in the country.  The duration since OO-W(AA) was ringed, is now 5 years, 10 months and 2 days, and the distance from Brautarholt, is 1,356 kms / 842 miles (SE).

Oystercatcher  -  OO-W(AA)  -  Carnlough Bay, Carnlough, Co. Antrim  (12 Mar 2022)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed Breeding Adult, on the 10th May 2016, in the Brautarholt area of SW Iceland)

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From Ric Else

Ric Else emailed me on Saturday 12th March 2022, to say that two of my Common Gulls have arrived back on Rathlin Island, situated just off the north coast of County Antrim.  I began my own project on the island back in 2017, ringing Common Gull chicks, to see how many survive to integrate into the overall breeding population over future years.  I reckon the overall population on the island exceeds 100 pairs, though the RSPB warden Liam McFaul gave a total of 70 occupied nests in 2019 (Rathlin Bird Report 2019).

The two gulls reported by Ric, were -  2APT  at Rue Point, and -  2BBC  at Doon Bay.   2APT , was ringed as a chick, on the 17th June 2017, at the Rue Point colony on Rathlin Island.  The gull was not seen again until the 13th April 2019, when it returned to it's natal colony.  At this point, I reckoned the bird had arrived back to prospect a nest site, as I doubt it was fully mature to breed.  In 2020, it was recorded several times at Rue Point during the breeding season, but last year, the gull was not recorded at all on the island.  The duration for this latest sighting is 4 years, 8 months and 23 days.  Good to know the bird is still with us.

 2BBC , was ringed as a chick, on the 24th June 2017, at the Arkill Bay colony on Rathlin.  It's first re-sighting was made by David Nixon, on the 22nd May 2018, when the then juvenile, was spotted at the South Inner Bay at Dundrum in County Down.  The gull returned to Rathlin Island in 2020, and likely prospected nest sites at the Doon Bay colony, where I also recorded it again in 2021.  On the 20th November 2021, Graham McElwaine spotted -  2BBC , back at the South Inner Bay at Dundrum, so it seems likely that the gull is wintering around Strangford Lough.  The duration since being ringed, is now 4 years, 8 months and 16 days.

Up until last year, Ric, along with Hazel Watson worked as wardens on Rathlin Island, but last summer worked on the British mainland.  I asked Ric if they were staying on the island this summer, and the reply cam back as a yes.  This is good news for me, as I'll have an extra couple of eyes watching out for my returning gulls.  I plan to begin my visits to Rathlin later in April.  The two breeding seasons of 2020 and 2021 have been very poor in the numbers of chicks raised.  However, 2019 was a good year, so hopefully many first re-sightings will be recorded this summer.

My thanks goes to Ric, for both the sightings and the good news that they are remaining on the island this summer.

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From Ronan Owens

On Tuesday 15th March 2022, Ronan Owens emailed me about one of my Antrim Marina Black-headed Gulls -  2ABN .  Earlier that afternoon,  2ABN , was spotted at Peatlands Park in County Armagh, which is situated between Lurgan in County Armagh and Dungannon in County Tyrone.

 2ABN , was ringed as an adult female at Antrim Marina, on the 23rd January 2021.  Over the years, the gull has amassed 221 sightings at Antrim Marina, and has never been recorded elsewhere until now.  I have always assumed that the gull is a winter visitor to the Marina, although on a couple of occasions it has arrived back fairly early, either having failed, or successfully completing it's nesting attempts.  The earliest return date was recorded on the 8th June 2017.

Peatlands Park lies 35 kms / 22 miles (SW), from Antrim Marina, but I do not know of any breeding colonies in that area, though the south-west corner of Lough Neagh, is not too far away.  Extending the line south-west, would take it towards Upper Lough Erne in County Fermanagh, where Black-headed Gulls are bound to be nesting.  As always, I hope to receive breeding season sightings.

My thanks goes to Ronan for reporting -  2ABN .

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From Ian Enlander

As mentioned above, on Saturday 12th March 2022, whilst I was at Glynn on Larne Lough, I wondered about visiting Whitehead to look for a Danish rung Black-headed Gull, but changed my mind and headed northwards towards Cushendall.  However, on Saturday evening, I received an email from Ian Enlander.  He had visited Whitehead during Saturday afternoon, and recorded Black-headed Gull - (White) 5HA.  Normally every winter, (White) 5HA, would be spotted on several occasions, but this winter, it had only been recorded on two occasions at Whitehead, by Cameron Moore, on the 7th December 2021, and on the 14th December 2021, when recorded by David Nixon, along with Philip McHaffie.

With (White) 5HA, soon to depart, it was good news to get another sighting report.  (White) 5HA was ringed as an Adult Male, on the 28th March 2015, at Gentofte Sø, a lake just to the north of Copenhagen in Denmark.  It was first spotted wintering at Whitehead, in November 2016, and has returned every winter since.  In Denmark, the gull has only been recorded back at Gentofte Sø on one occasion - April 2018.  The duration since being ringed, is now 6 years, 11 months and 12 days, and the distance from Gentofte Sø, is 1,160 kms / 720 miles (W).

My thanks goes to Ian for the sighting which is very useful.  Ian also reported that the Peregrine Falcons are back in the disused quarry at Whitehead.  The birds are extremely used to people, as a public footpath runs past the quarry and is much walked by many folk.  This is probably the easiest site to observe Peregrines nesting here in Northern Ireland.

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