Two Reports for Sunday 1st October 2023...

Sunday 1st October 2023

After completing my weekly visit to Antrim Marina (see previous post), I checked out three other sites in the town of Antrim, searching for ringed Black-headed Gulls, before moving on to Belfast to be in place for the tide beginning to go out.

Absolutely shocking were my thoughts on completing all three sites.  First stop was at the Castle Way Car Park, which these day's is the favoured haunt of Black-headed Gull -  2AFD .   2AFD , normally returns to Antrim in November, but during the summer, it was reported in the Latvian capital of Riga, on the 30th June and 1st July 2023.  On the 11th July,  2AFD  had made it's way to England, where it was spotted on the beach in Cromer, Norfolk.  This made me wonder if -  2AFD  was actually 'staging' somewhere in England before making it's way back to Northern Ireland.  I've been keeping my fingers crossed for further sightings, but nothing has come in as yet.  I sat parked in the Castle Way car park for around 20 minutes, but no a single gull was seen.

I then moved on to Antrim's KFC outlet, hoping to re-sight a metal-rung Black-headed Gull which was recorded on four occasions last winter (14th August 2022 to 5th March 2023), this one having been ringed as a chick in 2021 at Marlingford in Norfolk, England.  At the outlet just a single un-ringed Black-headed Gull was present.

Final stop before Belfast, was at Antrim's Baptist Church.  This is the wintering site of a Polish Black-headed Gull - (White) TY43, but again, not a single gull was in sight.  Last winter - (White) TY43 was recorded on just the single occasion (5th November 2022).  I recently checked the 'Live' Polish Ringing Database, but there are no further sightings since last November.

I was now heading towards Belfast, and whilst doing so, I pondered as to what has happened to Antrim's gulls - all is looking very bleak.  I reached Kinnegar Beach in perfect time, and on parking on the seafront I used a well worn 'red brick' as a marker, and could see that the water's edge was quickly creeping away from it.

Shortly afterwards the first of the gulls and waders began to appear.  Many juvenile Black-headed Gulls especially settled onto the river flowing over the beach.  Watching them closely, they were taking advantage of loads of tiny fish around two centimetres long.  Shortly afterwards, I noticed one juvenile with a blue darvic, so the race was on to try and capture the code.  Zooming into the bird with my camera, it's legs were totally submersed in the water, and I had much trouble trying to follow it.  On a couple of occasions, people walked along the beach and off went the gulls.  Luckily, when the area was clear, the juveniles came back again.

Having relocated my target bird, at one point, I thought I saw the letter 'T' starting the code.  To me, I reckoned I had a Polish-rung bird, but until now, all Polish-rung Black-headed Gulls recorded in Northern Ireland, have been ringed with either White or Yellow Darvic's, so a blue would be a first.  Unfortunately, a dog walker once again scattered everything on the beach, with most birds settling onto the sea.

After a while, the beach was clear again, and the birds came back on shore.  Now scoping at a distance, I spotted a Black-headed Gull with a red darvic.  The distance was easily covered by my camera, and I captured the code -  2EN5 .

This was my second sighting of this bird so far this winter, having spotted it here on Kinnegar Beach on the 2nd August 2023.   2EN5 , had been ringed as a chick, on the 24th June 2020, at the Elvanfoot colony in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.  On the 26th July 2020, 1 month and 2 days after being ringed, it was spotted at the Strathclyde Country Park in North Lanarkshire, having moved 45 kms / 28 miles (NW).

The next sighting was made by me on the 19th October 2020, when the then juvenile turned up at my Black-headed Gull Study site at Antrim Marina.  The distance to the Marina from Elvanfoot, was 182 kms / 113 miles (WSW), and the duration since being ringed was 3 months and 25 days.  This was the bird's last sighting until I recorded it here on Kinnegar Beach in August.  The distance from Elvanfoot to Kinnegar Beach, is 166 kms / 103 miles (WSW), and the duration is now 3 year, 3 months and 7 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2EN5   -  Kinnegar Beach, Belfast Lough, Co. Down  (01 Oct 2023)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 24th June 2020, at Elvanfoot, South Lanarkshire, Scotland)

My focus returned to my juvenile or anything else that was ringed.  Once again, the juveniles were landing onto the river below me, and eventually the blue darvic was spotted once more.  My problem, was that I still could not get a clear view of the ring.  After a while, I decided to disturb these gulls myself.  With the tide well out, I thought if I could get the birds to rise, they might land a short distance away.  Standing up a flapping my arms, my plan worked and the code was finally captured -  TV8U .

On returning home, I checked the cr-birding site, and my gull was indeed Polish.  I submitted my sighting onto the 'Live Polish Ringing Database', and also submitted my photos.  The following day, I received a reply to say my sighting had been accepted, and I was now able to log back onto the Database to view the birds details.

Black-headed Gull -  TV8U , was ringed as a chick, on the 20th June 2023, on Lake Jezioro, a short distance from the small town of Wagrowiec in Central Poland.  The distance was given as 1,521 kms / 945 miles (WNW) from Lake Jezioro, and the duration since being ringed is 3 months and 11 days.  This was the birds first re-sighting since being ringed, and my patience was well rewarded in the end.

Juvenile Black-headed Gull  -   TV8U   -  Kinnegar Beach, Belfast Lough, Co. Down  (01 Oct 2023)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 20th June 2023, at Lake Jezioro, near Wagrowiec, Central Poland)

Leaving Kinnegar Beach, I drove round to the nearby Connswater Mudflats.  Stopping at the roadside, I took a quick peek with my binoculars and around 100 Black-headed Gulls were present.  Problem here, is that you have to drive on to the nearest car park and walk back.  Connswater is the wintering site of two of Adam McClure's Black-headed Gulls, having been colour-ringed as chicks at Castle Espie in County Down.  Having scoped through the gulls and a small number of waders (Lapwings, Redshanks and Oystercatchers) a couple of times, no rings were spotted.

As it was now getting quite late, I drove to the Dargan Mudflats for my final stop of the day.  Once again, having scoped through a good number of gulls and waders, no more rings today.  

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From Brian Power

While I was busy at Antrim Marina and in Belfast on Sunday 1st October 2023, in the Republic of Ireland, a Brian Power was also busy.  On Sunday evening, I received an email from Brian reporting on one of Adam's former project birds - Black-headed Gull -  2ALB .  Initially, Brian was not sure whether the final character was an '8' or a 'B', and the photo that was attached, led me to not accepting the sighting.

I had took a look at my spreadsheet, to find that -  2ALB  had been ringed as a chick, on the 15th June 2015, at the WWT Castle Espie Wetland Centre in County Down.  The youngster was still at Castle Espie 13 days later, and after that, it had not been seen again.  At over 8 years since being ringed, I suggested to Brian that he should have another go at reading the ring.

Brian replied, adding more photos, and this time, I did except the sighting.   2ALB , was spotted on the Cashen Estuary in County Wexford, which lies 348 kms / 216 miles (SW) from Castle Espie.  The duration since being ringed, was now 8 years, 3 months and 16 days.  The sighting would also suggest that -  2ALB  may well be breeding in the Republic of Ireland as well.  It would be a great result, if we could find out where exactly it is breeding.

My thanks goes to Brian for the sighting report, along with several photos.  Brian says he will keep an eye out for further sightings.  Nice.

Black-headed Gull  -    2ALB   -  Cashen Estuary, Co. Wexford, Republic of Ireland  (01 Oct 2023)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 15th June 2015, at WWT Castle Espie Wetland Centre, Co. Down)

(Photo Courtesy of Brian Power)

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