Marina - 50 Up...

Antrim Marina - Monday 13th March 2023

I again opted for a later start for my latest weekly visit to Antrim Marina, arriving at 11:40, and departing around 3pm.  It was a cloudy day, with a light wind, and the temperature gauge in my car read 9°C.

Just 8 Black-headed Gulls were present on my arrival, with numbers quickly increasing to between 20 and 30 birds throughout the visit.  Just 9 colour-rings were read today of gulls belonging to my study at Antrim Marina, plus, for the second week running, that of Black-headed Gull  -   2K48 .   2K48 , was ringed as an unsexed adult in January 2020, at Southport on Merseyside, England.  It first appeared at the Marina, on the in March 2022, and was last seen here in June 2022.  Having submitted last Mondays sighting to the BTO, on the DemOn Ringing Database, there were two other sighting submissions, having been made in November and December 2022.  DemOn does not show locations, but I would suspect that those had been made back in Southport.  It would appear that -  2K48  winters in Southport, and comes here to Lough Neagh to breed.  Over the next couple of months, further sightings here would 'cement' it's breeding status here.

Of the sightings of my 9 study birds, the first ring to be read, was that of -  2CSR  at 11:42.  My 9th and final ring sighting, had me racing to grab my camera.  The bird concerned -  2CTA , had not been seen here since the 21st February 2022, and is now the 50th Black-headed Gull to be added to this winters list of colour-ringed study birds at the Marina.

 2CTA , was ringed here as an unsexed 2nd winter bird, on the 10th December 2018.  This latest sighting at the Marina, is the 15th altogether, which shows that the gull is not regularly recorded here.  The duration since being ringed, is now 4 years, 3 months and 3 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2CTA   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (13 Mar 2023)

(Ringed as an Un-Sexed 2nd Calendar Year Bird, on the 10th December 2018, at Antrim Marina)

With so few gulls present today, I've decided not to add a table of absentees, as there is no doubting now, that many birds will have moved on towards their respective breeding sites.  I am now hoping that some of these gulls will be spotted during their travels.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on the 13th March 2023

2CSR	2AAB	2FHJ	2FIA	2AAA	2FJC	2FJA	2CJT	2CTA

Whilst I was at home getting ready to go to work on Monday evening, an email arrived with me from an Aaron Long.  Aaron had been at the Marina between 2 and 3pm, and he recorded two of the colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls -  2FJA  and  2FHJ .  Aaron came to my attention recently, as his name was given on a PDF File, concerning his sighting of the Danish Black-headed Gull (White) 5HA, at Whitehead on the east County Antrim Coast.

A series of emails were exchanged between us, and I learnt that Aaron had recently taken an interest in looking for ringed gulls after being part of an RSPB Group which covered the east County Antrim coast looking for birds in general.  Whilst with the group, he was involved with the sighting of another Dutch colour-ringed Black-headed Gull spotted on the Glynn foreshore on Larne Lough.

I welcomed Aaron into our world of 'Ring Reading', and I am hoping that a link to my blog will encourage him towards future ring sightings.  My thanks goes to Aaron for his sightings at Antrim Marina, and for the interesting exchange of emails.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FHJ   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (13 Mar 2023)

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

(Photo Courtesy of Aaron Long)

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

Once again, there were a large number of Mute Swans present on my arrival today.  After a quick look through the Black-headed Gulls present, an initial count gave me 21 (White) Mute Swans.  At 12:03, a pair arrived having come down river from the town of Antrim.  A count made at 1:30, now saw 25 (White) swans present, therefore three had slipped in unnoticed.  Most, if not all legs were checked, with just the one metal ring being recorded.  This was the routine sighting of -  Z78580 , which was ringed here as a juvenile/1st winter bird on the 15th November 2020.

Mallard numbers were low throughout the visit, with 12 birds on arrival, and a 1:30 count revealed 21 altogether.  Again, most if not all legs were checked, and not one ring has been recorded on them this winter.

The usual pair of Herring Gulls did not appear today, whilst the first of the Lesser Black-backed pair arrived at 12:20, with his mate arriving at 12:28.  Just one Common Gull today, which arrived at 1:28.

6 Jackdaws and the male Pied Wagtail, were the only other species to be spotted here today.

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Mute Swan - Orange NLA - Sorted

In a roundabout way, I was alerted to the sighting of a colour-ringed Mute Swan, that had been spotted by Linda Thompson, on the 5th March 2023, on the Inver River in Larne, County Antrim.  The bird, rung -  NLA , was not unknown to me, as it had been reported to me back in 2020.

Cameron Moore, spotted the swan at Ballycarry Bridge on the 27th October 2020, with Ballycarry Bridge being a further 3 kms up Larne Lough from the town of Larne.  On that occasion, I submitted Cameron's sighting to the BTO, but they were unable to produce a recovery, as the colour-marks were unknown to them.  The swan was again spotted by Cameron on an unknown date at Glynn, also on Larne Lough and quite close to the town of Larne.

I replied to Linda, outlining the situation, which could be sorted if the birds metal number could be read.  I also informed Cameron and Ian Enlander, who are both very good ring readers, in the hope that the number could be read by someone.  With this swan being on the Inver River, it should be quite people friendly.

On the 11th March 2023, Linda had 'cracked it', photographing the metal number -  Z46589 .  This time, I submitted Cameron's original sighting, along with both of Linda's sightings to the BTO, by the bird's metal and colour-marks.  The three recoveries arrived back from the BTO, and I noticed that the colour-marks were not included when the swan was originally ringed.

 Z46589 , was ringed as a 2nd calendar year female, on the 2nd March 2019, at the former Belfast Waterworks at Cliftonville in Belfast.  The distance for Cameron's 2020 sighting at Ballycarry Bridge, was given as 24 kms / 14 miles (NE), from the Waterworks, whilst the Inver River, lies 27 kms / 16 miles (NNE).  The duration, as of Linda's sighting on the 11th March 2023, is 4 years and 9 days.

We suspect, that the swan had been colour-ringed by Debbie Nelson, who runs a wildlife rescue centre.  Debbie deals with a large number of swans that come to her through all sorts of mishaps.  On release, Debbie would ring and colour-ring the swans, in the event that they would come to her attention again in the future.  As -  Z46589  was already ringed, the colour-ring -  NLA  had been added on a later date.  In this situation, the swan would be classed as a control/re-trap, but the date of the addition of the colour-ring was not submitted to the BTO.

For this swan, we now have a full history, thanks to Linda's efforts.

Mute Swan  -   NLA   -  Inver River, Larne, Co. Antrim  (06 Mar 2023)

(Ringed as a 2nd Calendar Year Female, on the 2nd March 2019, at Belfast Waterworks, Cliftonville, Belfast)

(Photo Courtesy of Linda Thompson)

Metal Number -   Z46589   -  Belonging to Mute Swan -  NLA   (11 Mar 2023)

(Photo Courtesy of Linda Thompson)

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Ringing Details Received

Back on the 31st January 2023, Suzanne photographed a metal-rung juvenile Black-headed Gull at Lurgan Park Lake in County Armagh.  Having successfully captured the birds ring number -  VA7547 , this youngster was from Denmark.  Suzanne emailed Kjeld Tommy Pedersen in Denmark, reporting on her sighting.

A few weeks passed by, and as there was no reply, I submitted Suzanne's sighting to the BTO.  Recently, the BTO sent us a recovery for the gull.   VA7547 , was ringed as a chick, on the 27th May 2022, on Hirsholm Island situated just off the coast from the town of Frederikshavn in north-east Denmark.

Suzanne's sighting was likely to be the first for this young gull, coming 8 months and 4 days after being ringed.  The distance from Hirsholm, was given as, 1,106 kms / 687 miles (WSW).

 VA7547 , was actually the second metal-rung juvenile Danish Black-headed Gull to have been spotted by Suzanne at Lurgan Park this winter.  The first bird was spotted standing on the ice of the frozen lake, on the 15th December 2022.  Unfortunately, Suzanne was not able to capture that birds ring number, though the sketchy details that were captured, looked nothing like -  VA7547 .

At least Suzanne now has a result for one of them.

Juvenile Black-headed Gull  -   VA7547   -  Lurgan Park Lake, Lurgan, Co. Armagh  (31 Jan 2023)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 27th May 2022, on Hirsholm Island, north-east Denmark)

(Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Belshaw)

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