On The Go Again...

Antrim Marina - Monday 31st October 2022

Having had to postpone my last two Monday visits to Antrim Marina due to a very bad kidney infection, I was looking forwards to my visit today.  With the schools being off for Halloween, it was a very quick trip from Ballymena to the Marina.  I arrived just before 9am, the weather conditions being cloudy with a light wind.

I was on the lookout for 38 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls, which have been recorded here since the beginning of August, one of which, was caught and ringed this winter.  The first ring read at 9am, was that of -  2AAN  which was ringed here as an adult female back in December 2012.  Altogether, I read 30 colour-rings during today's visit, with 22 having been read by 10am.

Around 80 Black-headed Gulls were present when I arrived, with a max total of 120 being present as the morning wore on.  During each visit, the codes which have been recorded this winter are pre-written, so I only have to add the time for each bird spotted during my current visit.  At 9:10, I recorded -  2FFL , which was not on the list, so I instantly knew this gull was another returnee.

 2FFL , was caught and ringed here at the Marina, as a juvenile/1st winter bird, on the 14th December 2020.  It was subsequently recorded through to the 26th April 2021.  On resuming my weekly visits in August 2021,  2FFL  was recorded on the 9th August 2021, through to the 5th April 2022.  Seeing as I have not recorded this bird until now, I'm left wondering, could this gull be of foreign origin?

Black-headed Gull  -   2FFL   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Oct 2022)

(Ringed as a Juvenile/1st Winter Bird, on the 14th December 2020, at Antrim Marina)

As usual, some of the gulls were clearly coming and going, therefore the maximum total of 120 birds, would have been much higher if all had remained.  I noted that there was no sign of the one-legged (left leg) BHG, and I was pleased to see that little 'Runty' is still alive and well.  As soon as I parked my car in my usual spot, 'Runty' was very quick to arrive at the door for a feed of bread.  Although I have missed two visits, it has not forgotten me.

Among today's sightings was -  2CSK .  This gull was recorded during my first visit for this autumn/winter season at the start of August, but has been absent here until today.  I did however, spot -  2CSK , on the 19th August 2022, at the Junction One Shopping Centre on the outskirts of Antrim Town.

The 9th gull to be recorded today, was -  2AAA .  This gull was the very first bird to be colour-ringed here at Antrim Marina, belonging to Adam McClure's former Northern Ireland Black-headed Gull Study.  Ringed as an adult male, the duration as of today, is 9 years, 11 months and 19 days.  Since those early day's of Adam's project, many individuals have since died, but -  2AAA  is now close to becoming the first gull to surpass the 10 year mark.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Monday 31st October 2022

2AAN	2CTC	2FFA	2ABL	2CJT	2ACV	2FDK	2FHC	2AAA	2ABA
2FIF	2CSR	2FFL	2ABN	2FHP	2FFP	2CSB	2FHA	2AAK	2FFF
2FFX	2FHX	2BRA	2CSK	2CSA	2FDJ	2FIK	2FHJ	2FFC	2ABS

Also among today's re-sightings was -  2FHJ .  It was first recorded back at the Marina on the 22nd August 2022, with it's last appearance having being recorded on the 26th September 2022.  This gull was caught and ringed here as a juvenile/1st winter bird, on the 6th September 2021.  The duration since being ringed, is now 1 year, 1 month and 25 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FHJ   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Oct 2022)

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

Among today's absentees is -  2CSL .  So far this autumn/winter season,  2CSL  has only been recorded on the one occasion at the Marina - (2nd August 2022).  I fell in with this gull at Antrim's KFC outlet on the 8th September 2022, but have not seen it since.  This bird was ringed at Antrim Marina as an unsexed adult, on the 24th December 2017, and on the 29th March 2018, it was spotted in Olsztyn in Poland.  In Antrim, it has been recorded on 84 occasions since being ringed, so I'm hoping nothing has happened to this bird. 

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

2AAB	2CSL	2CSX	2FDX	2FFT	2FHV	2FIA	2FIH	2FIJ

Each Monday visit to the Marina normally lasts for four hours - roughly 9am to 1pm.  On arrival, most of my time is used to record the colour-rings on the Black-headed Gulls, but later, once most rings have been read, I would then try to catch one or two new birds to add to my project.  How successful I would be, depends on other visitors to the Marina.  With the use of the swans, I would entice the gulls by dropping bread at the feet of the swans, and as the gulls try to nip in to grab the bread, I would grab a bird and take it back to my car to be ringed.

However, on most occasions, people arrive to feed the ducks on bread, and sometimes the gulls would gain more of their share, making them harder to catch.  By this time of the year, the gulls are finding it harder to obtain natural food and would therefore make it easier to catch them.  Today, despite several feeds by visitors, I did manage to catch two second calendar year birds.  As they would have hatched during 2021, at least these gulls are of known age.  I do like to ring a number of juveniles each winter, though some might not survive through to the spring.  Although full adults cannot be aged, by ringing them, they are experienced birds and therefore likely to be recorded here for a number of years, though a few might just happen to be passing through on route to their wintering sites when captured.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FIL   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Oct 2022)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed 2nd Calendar Year Bird, on the 31st October 2022, at Antrim Marina)

Black-headed Gull  -   2FIN   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Oct 2022)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed 2nd Calendar Year Bird, on the 31st October 2022, at Antrim Marina)

With today's returnee, plus the two newly ringed birds, I will now be on the lookout for 41 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls on next Monday's visit.  Now that we are entering the month of November, I'll be especially looking for another two returnees.   2AFD , which was ringed here at the Marina in February 2014, is known to visit the Latvian capital of Riga (2015 & 2016).  Having been recorded back at Antrim last winter, it's last sighting was in Riga, on the 27th March 2022.

The second bird that I'm especially keen to record it's return is -  2FDL .  The last sighting of this bird was at a nesting colony at Råstasjön Nature Reserve, on the outskirts of Stockholm, on the 3rd April 2022.   2FDL  was caught and ringed at the Marina, as an unsexed adult in November 2019.  It was last recorded that winter on the 20th January 2020 and never appeared at all in 2021.  The gull reappeared here on the 31st January 2022, and was recorded for a second time on the 7th February 2022, before being spotted in Sweden.  With these ringing and sighting dates, this gull could return at any time from November to January, but I'm really hoping it will complete the circle from the Marina to Sweden and back to the Marina.

Other birds at Antrim Marina

The first thing that I noticed on parking beside the slipway at the Marina, was the Mute Swan family and they were missing a cygnet, fearing the worst, the 4th cygnet joined up with the rest of it's family at 10:24.  A rough count of the Mallards, gave me a total of around 50 birds on my arrival, with numbers rising slightly to a max of around 70 to 75 birds.  Still no rings on these birds.

The resident adult Herring Gull was present throughout my visit, and a juvenile made a brief appearance at 11am.  Common Gull numbers are still very low, with one adult appearing at 10:20, with a second adult appearing at 11:48.  Still no sign of the small Scottish metal-rung bird, which first appeared here as a juvenile in February 2014, and has been recorded every winter since.  Last winter, this gull made it's earliest ever return, having been recorded on the 16th August 2021.  My last sighting of this gull was made on the 3rd January 2022.

4 Hooded Crows, 1 Rook and 6 Jackdaws were noted today, as well as a pair of Pied Wagtails.

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