On the go again...

Some of you will have noticed that I have been publishing a few posts of late, and will be wondering where have I been over the summer months.  Usually, though I do not normally post on a regular basis over the summer, at least a few are published.  One or two of you will also have noticed that I failed to undertake my final weekly visit to Antrim Marina at the end of March.

The reason for all this, was exhaustion, I was being slaughtered at work.  Just before last Christmas, I began voicing several issues to my evening shift managers and nothing was done about it.  Things got even worse shortly after the new, when our department increased production lines from three to five.  As one of two electric pallet truck operators, the workload on myself  increased greatly, and my fellow pallet truck operator became increasingly lazy and even disappeared for long periods of time.  Week after week, my complaints to my managers were not acted on and my plea's for a third pallet truck operator to be put on fell on deaf ears.

By the time the weekends arrived, I was so exhausted that I could not face going out to do any birdwatching, and just lay about the house recovering.  When May and June arrived, it was time to visit Rathlin Island to continue my Common Gull project.  I now realised that my health was being compromised, as I struggled to get around the island.  Back in work, I often found myself having to cope with five lines on my own, and again my plea's for a third runner were not listened to.  By the end of June, through several reasons, I ended up quitting my job.

Having had four weeks rest now, I am once again bouncing.  Its hard to believe how week after week being overworked slowly takes it toll on your health and well being.  I just wish I had quit sooner.  So much for the factory's pride in looking after their employees.  The factory and their managers have let me down big time.

I'm now a month away from my 63rd birthday and now feel like a 20 year old.  I have been helping out with some Peregrine and Hen Harrier survey work, and have resumed my 'ring reading' activities.  I am also in the process of obtaining a new job, so fingers crossed here.  It is a position completely different from anything I have done in the past.

It is also that time of the year where I begin my winter weekly visits to Antrim Marina where I survey a wintering population of Black-headed Gulls via their colour-rings.  Normally, I would begin in the first weekend of August, but seeing as Tuesday was the 1st August, I decided to visit Antrim Marina on the 31st July.

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Antrim Marina - Monday 31st July 2023

Today sees the beginning of my 11th winter of 'Ring Reading at Antrim Marina'.  I began my study here to run alongside Adam McClure's Northern Ireland Black-headed Gull Study, which he began in 2012, with the initial study birds being colour-ringed at Antrim Marina.  Once I became involved, I have visited Antrim on a weekly basis every winter since the 2013/2024 season.  Over the following years, I retrained as a ringer and now colour-ring more Black-headed Gulls to add to my study at the Marina.  Although Adam gave up on his project in 2018, I decided to continue with my own study.

This winter at Antrim Marina will be interesting.  Bird Flu has struck many breeding colonies over the summer months, therefore some gulls might not make it back to the Marina this winter.  One bird I know will not return is -  2FFC .   2FFC , was found dead and later tested positive for bird flu at Germany's biggest Black-headed Gull colony at Riether Werder.  Prior to this, the whereabouts -  2FFC  spent it's summer holidays was unknown.

Here in Northern Ireland, cases of bird flu were reported at two nature reserves, one being the WWT Castle Espie Wetland Centre in County Down, the other being the RSPB's Window on Wildlife Reserve in Belfast, which subsequently was closed to the public of a few weeks.  Prior to this outbreak, I had recorded two Antrim Marina Black-headed Gulls at the WoW Reserve, but both gulls have survived as they were recorded at Antrim Marina today -  2FFX  &  2ACV . 

Today's visit to Antrim Marina was quite disappointing, as the number of Black-headed Gulls never exceeded the 40 mark, though some birds were clearly coming and going.  For small periods of time, no gulls were present at all.  Over a three hour visit, 14 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls were recorded, with the ever present -  2CJT  being the first.  I took photos of all 14 colour-ringed gulls, with these starting off a new winter list.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls at Antrim Marina on Monday 31st July 2023

2CJT	2FFA	2FIP	2AAB	2FIK	2FIF	2FFX
2FJA	2ACV	2FIA	2CSK	2FHC	2FHV	2BRA

The first to be recorded was -  2CJT .  This one was caught and ringed at the Marina as a juvenile/1st winter bird in December 2016.  Considered as a resident bird, it has been recorded here during the breeding season over several years.  Today's sighting is the 218th sighting record overall at the Marina bar one.  On the 25th February 2021,  2CJT  was photographed at Castle Semple Loch in the  Lochwinnoch area in Renfrewshire, Scotland.  Prior to that sighting,  2CJT  was last recorded at the Marina on the 4th January 2021 and returned again to the Marina on the 12th April 2021.  The reason for this 'wee jaunt' over to Scotland is not known, though it could have got caught up in a flock returning to their own breeding sites.  It is now 6 years, 7 months and 27 days since -  2CJT  was ringed.

Black-headed Gull  -   2CJT   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Jul 2023)

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

 2FFA  was caught and ringed as an unsexed adult in November 2020.  At present, I reckon this gull is a winter visitor to Antrim Marina, as I have no summer sightings for this bird.  The final sighting during the 2020/2021 winter was made on the 19th April 2021.  Below are the arrival and departure dates for the past two winters :-

9th August 2021 to 21st March 2022

2nd August 2022 to 28th February 2023.

As of today's sighting, it has been 2 years, 8 months and 8 days since -  2FFA  was ringed.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FFA   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 23rd November 2020, at Antrim Marina)

 2FIP  was caught and ringed at the Marina as an unsexed 2nd calendar year bird last winter.  The final sighting during the 2022/2023 winter was made on the 26th February 2023.  Normally, I would make a number of random visits to the Marina over the summer months, but this summer there was only the one visit made, and that was by Suzanne Belshaw who recorded -  2CSR  and  2FIL  on the 16th June 2023.  It will take a couple of years to work out the residential status for - 2FIP.  It has been 8 months and 3 days since -  2FIP  was ringed.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FIP   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as an Unsexed 2nd Calendar Year Bird, on the 28th November 2022)

 2AAB , was the third Black-headed Gull to be ringed when Adam McClure began his Northern Ireland Study in 2012.  Ringed as an unsexed adult in December 2012, it has long been established that -  2AAB  is a year round resident at the Marina with many breeding season sightings over the past years.  During the winter months, if this gull is absent at the Marina, it can be found on the roof of Antrim's Baptist Church.  Today's sighting is the 240th sighting record overall, and it is now 10 years, 7 months and 20 days since being ringed.

Black-headed Gull  -   2AAB   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 11th December 2012, at Antrim Marina)

 2FIK  is another gull that was caught and ringed at the Marina last winter.  Ringed as an unsexed adult in September 2022, it was last recorded at the Marina on the 20th March 2023.  Again, as there were no summer visits made to the Marina it is not possible to establish whether this bird is a resident.  The duration since being ringed, is now 10 months and 19 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FIK   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 12th September 2022, at Antrim Marina)

 2FIF  was caught and ringed at the Marina as an unsexed adult in November 2021.  After being ringed, the gull was recorded through to the 14th March 2022.  Two sightings at the Marina in June 2022, indicates that this bird is perhaps a year round resident.  With no summer visits to the Marina this year, I cannot be one hundred percent sure about this bird's status.  It is now 1 year, 8 months and 2 days since  2FIF  was ringed.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FIF   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Jul 2023)

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

The sighting of -  2FFX  was really pleasing, as it has survived through the outbreak of bird flu at the RSPB's Window on Wildlife Reserve in Belfast this summer.

 2FFX  was ringed as a juvenile/1st winter bird here at the Marina in December 2020, with the final sighting of the 2020/2021 winter being made on the 12th April 2021.  With no summer sightings in 2021, the gull was recoded back at the Marina again on the 9th August 2021, and remained through to the 14th March 2022.  On a visit to the RSPB's Window on Wildlife Reserve on the 26th June 2022, I spotted -  2FFX  on nesting platform one in front of the visitor centre.  Seeing as the gull was not fully mature, I reckoned it was prospecting a nest site for 2023.

 2FFX  had returned to Antrim Marina by the 2nd August 2022, and was last recorded at the Marina on the 28th February 2023.  On the 19th March 2023, I returned to the WoW Reserve in Belfast and spotted -  2FFX  carrying nesting material to platform one.  Derek Polley who is a volunteer at the visitor centre, also recorded -  2FFX  on platform one on the 23rd and 30th March 2023.  Although the nesting platform was crowded with nesting gulls and growing vegetation, I spotted -  2FFX  resting on a pole on the 20th May 2023, just prior to the Reserve being closed down due to a number of Black-headed Gulls being found dead and testing positive for bird flu.  It is now 2 years, 7 months and 10 days since I ringed -  2FFX .

Black-headed Gull  -   2FFX   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Jul 2023)

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

 2FJA  was ringed as an unsexed 2nd calendar year bird at Antrim Marina in December 2022, and the final sighting of the 2022/2023 winter, was made on the 19th March 2023.  Again, with no summer visits having been made to the Marina, it is not known whether this gull stayed on site.  The duration since being ringed, is 7 months and 12 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FJA   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as an Unsexed 2nd Calendar Year Bird, on the 19th December 2022, at Antrim Marina)

On the 20th May 2023, I had a surprise sighting of -  2ACV , when I came across the gull at the RSPB's Window on Wildlife Reserve in Belfast.  With one previous sighting at the RSPB's Leighton Moss Reserve in Lancashire, England (24th April 2016), I had always presumed that this is where -  2ACV  bred at every summer.  The WoW Reserve was closed to the public shortly after my visit due to bird flu, therefore no other sightings were made until today.

There is one other sighting away from Antrim Marina, and this was made by Suzanne Belshaw on the 23rd July 2015, at the Sprucefield Shopping Centre in County Down.  We presumed that -  2ACV  was on its return leg to Antrim Marina, which was confirmed 5 days later (28th July), when spotted at the Marina by Neville McKee.

 2ACV  may have survived the bird flu outbreak in Belfast, but has since picked up a serious injury to its left foot.  The foot was fine when I saw it on the 20th May.  It is now 9 years, 9 months and 10 days since -  2ACV  was ringed.

Black-headed Gull  -   2ACV   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as a Juvenile/1st Winter Bird, on the 21st October 2013, at Antrim Marina)

 2FIA  was ringed as an unsexed 2nd calendar year bird in November 2021, and the last sighting of the 2021/2022 winter was made on the 14th March 2022.  Two late breeding season sightings were made

at the Marina in June and July 2022, suggests that the bird remained there and may possibly be a year round resident.  During the 2022/2023 winter, it was first recorded on the 2nd August 2022, through to the 13th March 2023.  With no summer visits during 2023, I could not confirm whether or not -  2FIA  is a year round resident.  The duration since being ringed, is now 1 year, 8 months and 16 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FIA   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as an Unsexed 2nd Calendar Year Bird, on the 15th November 2021, at Antrim Marina)

 2CSK  was ringed at the Marina as an unsexed adult in December 2017.  I consider -  2CSK  to be a year round resident, as over the years since being ringed, it has been recorded at the Marina during the breeding season.  All but one of the 97 sighting records have been made at the Marina, the exception being on the 19th August 2022, when spotted in the car park of Antrim's nearby Junction One Shopping Centre.  It is now 5 years, 7 months and 14 days since -  2CSK  was ringed.

Black-headed Gull  -   2CSK   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Jul 2023)

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

 2FHC  was ringed at Antrim Marina as an unsexed adult on the 28th December 2020.  It's first resighting was made on the 4th January 2021 (7 days later), after which time it completely disappeared.  It returned to the Marina on the 9th August 2021, remaining through to the 12th March 2022.  With enough random visits having been made at the Marina during the summers of 2021 and 2022, it is safe to say that -  2FHC  is a winter visitor.

 2FHC  returned to the Marina on the 2nd August 2022, and mysteriously disappeared after the 28th November 2022, making me feel as if something disastrous had happened.  Good to see that -  2FHC  is still with us.  Hopefully, the gull will survive long enough, so as we can find out where it breeds.  The duration since being ringed, is 2 years, 7 months and 3 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FHC   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Jul 2023)

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

 2FHV  was ringed as an unsexed adult at Antrim Marina on the 8th November 2021, and was last seen on the 24th February 2022.  On the 26th June 2022, and again on the 8th July 2022,  2FHV  was spotted in northern Iceland at a town called Akureyri - a distance of 1,381 kms / 858 miles (NNW) from the Marina.

Last winter,  2FHV  was back by the 8th August 2022, and was recorded through to the 28th February 2023.  I had hoped for further Icelandic sightings over this past summer, but unfortunately none came in.  The duration since being ringed, is now 1 year, 8 months and 23 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FHV   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 8th November 2021, at Antrim Marina)

 2BRA  was ringed as an adult female at Antrim Marina on the 1st February 2015, this being the day that Adam McClure and myself met for the first time.  Over the years since being ringed, numerous breeding season sightings has confirmed that -  2BRA  is an all year round resident at the Marina.  The duration since being ringed, is now 8 years, 5 months and 30 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2BRA   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (31 Jul 2023)

(Ringed as an Adult Female, on the 1st February 2015, at Antrim Marina)

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

Over the course of today's visit, only a single juvenile Black-headed Gull was noted and it only stayed for around 20 minutes.  The lack of juvenile's suggests to me that the gulls have had a very poor breeding season on the nearby former torpedo platform.  Hopefully as the weeks pass, more juveniles will appear, as I like to colour-ring birds of known age.

A pair of un-ringed Mute Swans were present throughout my visit, and had four medium sized cygnets with them.  The cygnets have already got used to people and quite readily come to hand.  Around 60 Mallards were present on my arrival, with numbers remaining static throughout the visit.

No Common Gulls today, but a single adult Herring Gull arrived at 1:20pm, followed by an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull at 1:46pm.

A single Jackdaw was the only other species to be recorded at the Marina today.

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