Xmas Disaster...

Christmas Day 2022

Every Christmas Day, my main aim to record a Norwegian colour-ringed Black-headed Gull (White J4TJ), at the Connswater Shopping Centre car park in Belfast.  Seeing as all of the shops are closed, this is my best opportunity to entice (White) J4TJ to come to ground for a feed of bread.  The gull was first recorded at the Connswater Shopping Centre back in January 2014, when spotted by Adam McClure.  Since Christmas Day 2017, with the exception of Christmas Day 2019, I have successfully re-sighted the gull in the car park.  Having taken a look at the 'Live Norwegian Ringing Database', (White) J4TJ, has not been seen since last Christmas.  Another Black-headed Gull - the Dutch (White) EAK9, is often recorded at the same time in the Connswater car park.

On my way to Belfast, I called into the town of Antrim, to see if I could record the return of Black-headed Gull -  2AFD , along with a German metal-rung Black-headed Gull -  IA200180 , and a Scottish Black-headed Gull rung -  2EA1 , all previously recorded at the Castle Way car park in the town centre.

Having reached the car park, the lure of bread soon had the gulls flocking down towards me, and three Black-headed Gulls were recorded with colour-rings, but no sign of either of the German or Scottish birds.

The first to be recorded was -  2CTC , which was ringed as a first winter bird in December 2018, at the nearby Antrim Marina, where I study a wintering population of Black-headed Gulls.  Since 2018,  2CTC  has been regularly recorded at Antrim Marina, with the only exception having been recorded back in February 2022, when I spotted the gull at Antrim's Junction One Shopping Centre car park.  Today's sighting takes the duration since being ringed to 4 years and 1 day.

Black-headed Gull  -   2CTC   -  Castle Way Car Park, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (25 Dec 2022)

(Ringed as a Juvenile/1st Winter Bird, on the 24th December 2018, at Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim)

The second Black-headed Gull was -  2FIL .  This bird was caught and ringed as a 2nd Winter bird on the 31st October 2022.  Since being ringed,  2FIL  had been re-sighted on five occasions at Antrim Marina, the last recorded having been made on the 19th December 2022.  1 month and 25 days have now elapsed since the gull was ringed.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FIL   -  Castle Way Car Park, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (25 Dec 2022)

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

My third gull was my prime target -  2AFD .   2AFD , belongs to Adam McClure's former Northern Ireland Black-headed Gull Study, and was caught and ringed at Antrim Marina as an adult male on the 12th February 2014.  Having already made several attempts to record the return of -  2AFD , I was really delighted to record it today.  In recent years,  2AFD  rarely visits Antrim Marina, but the Castle Way car park now appears to be it's favoured site to spend the winter.

My last sighting of -  2AFD  last winter, happened to be at Antrim Marina on the 21st February 2022, before I received a sighting report on the 27th March 2022.  A Juris Vigulis reported seeing -  2AFD , in the Kengarags area, on the western side of the capital Riga in Latvia.   2AFD  is no stranger to Riga, as in April 2015, and again in April 2016,  2AFD  was spotted at Getlini Eko Landfill Site on the eastern outskirts of Riga.  The duration since being ringed, is now 8 years, 10 months and 13 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2AFD   -  Castle Way Car Park, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (25 Dec 2022)

(Ringed as an Adult Male, on the 12th February 2014, at Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim)

Leaving the Castle Way car park, I drove the short distance to Antrim's KFC car park, before heading on towards Belfast.  Just two Black-headed Gulls were present, but on throwing out bits of bread, other birds quickly followed.  With a total of 15 BHG's, none were ringed.  I had hoped for another sighting of -  EA65722  which was ringed as a chick, on the 26th June 2021 in Norfolk, England.  My sighting of this gull on the 14th August 2022, happened to be a first re-sighting for this 2nd year bird at the KFC car park.  Further sightings were made here on the 19th August and 6th November 2022.

Disaster Strikes

I now joined the motorway to make my way towards Belfast.  Having just passed the Templepatrick junction, I started losing power on the uphill section of the motorway, and realised that the clutch had failed.  I was forced to go onto the hard shoulder, where I managed to keep the car moving at a top speed of 20 mph in second gear.  There was no way of getting to Belfast, so I decided to keep on going on the hard shoulder where I could exit the motorway at the Glengormley junction.  At Glengormley, I wondered if I could limp back to Ballymena via the country roads, but as I travelled uphill towards the Corrs Corner roundabout, the car came to a complete standstill.

My dilemma must have been caught on CCTV, as soon afterwards the police pulled in behind me.  Explaining that the clutch had gone, the police were extremely helpful and organised a breakdown lorry to get the car and myself back to Ballymena.  I had to sit and wait for just over an hour, but with the job done and £180 lighter in my pocket, I was back home.

What an ending to my Christmas Day.  Why couldn't this have happened a couple of weeks ago, when I was off work for two weeks with a joint tooth and throat infection.  Now into the holiday period, goodness know how long it will take to get back onto the road.

With no car, I could not get to Antrim Marina on Boxing Day, and it looks likely that I will also miss my next weekly visit to the Marina on the 2nd January.

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Suzanne Belshaw emailed me to enquire if I was happy to accept her latest ring sightings and despite a lengthy wait, nothing arrived.  On Tuesday 27th December, I discovered two emails from Suzanne in my Spam Box, which I then moved into my Inbox.  I'm now processing some very interesting sightings which will appear in my next post.

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