Antrim Marina - (Monday 18th March 2024)

Antrim Marina - Monday 18th March 2024

Seeing as Sunday 17th March was St. Patrick's Day, I thought that it would be wiser not to visit Antrim Marina, as there might just be far too many people about.  With Monday the 18th being a bank holiday, we had the day off work and I decided this would be better suited to make my weekly visit.  Having been blocked from getting out of my back yard by a visiting car, I eventually arrived at the Marina at 11:44.  It was a calm, sunny day, with the temperature gauge in my car reading a 'balmy' 14°C.

On parking beside the small concrete jetty, around 30 Black-headed Gulls were present.  With 34 colour-ringed gulls to look out for, I anticipated that this was going to be another long process for reading rings.  Among the 30 birds present,  2AAB ,  2FJL  and  2FJN , were the first three to be read.

 2AAB , is the oldest surviving Black-headed Gull belonging to Adam McClure's former Northern Ireland BHG Study  Having been ringed at the Marina as an unsexed adult, on the 11th December 2012, the duration as of today's sighting, is now 11 years, 3 months and 7 days, since being ringed.   2AAB , is a year round resident in the Antrim area, and hopefully it will survive this summers breeding season.  As each breeding season passes, I usually lose a couple of Adam's gulls, which are often among the oldest.  Bird Flu, took a hugh toll on the breeding gulls last summer, with around half of my colour-ringed birds failing to return.

 2FJL  and  2FJN , were both ringed here as adults on the 3rd December 2023, therefore little is known about these two, except for the fact that both are still here.  My 7th sighting at 12:13, was  2FJF , and it is the only juvenile among the 8 gulls that were caught and ringed here this winter.  I caught this bird on the 12th November 2023, and up to now, it has survived pretty well on the feeds from the public.

Yes, the process of reading rings was really stretched out, with the 12th and final colour-ring -  2AAN  being read at 1:25pm, which meant I had 22 absentees today.  There's no doubting, that many gulls are now well on their way to their breeding sites.

Throughout my visit, Black-headed Gull numbers fluctuated between none and a maximum of around 40 altogether, which is not surprising of late.  The metal-rung Icelandic Black-headed Gull -  543335  appeared at 1:41pm, just in time before my departure at 2pm.  Ringed in Iceland, on the 14th July 2023, it first appeared at the Marina on the 8th August 2023, when a partial number was read.  The whole number was completed on the 21st August 2023.  With my final two visits for this winter coming up, I will be surprised if this gull is still present during these.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Monday 18th March 2024

2AAB	2FJL	2FJN	2FIF	2ACV	2CSR
2FJF	2FIK	2CSK	2CJT	2FIL	2AAN

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

2ABN	2AFD	2BRA	2BRD	2CTA	2FDJ	2FDK	2FDL
2FFA	2FFT	2FFX	2FHC	2FHT	2FHV	2FIA	2FIJ
2FIP	2FJA	2FJH	2FJK	2FJP	2FJT

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

The number of Mute Swans present, easily caught my eye whilst parking beside the concrete jetty.  A count revealed 24 (White) swans and 5 cygnets.  Four of the cygnets are from the same family group, whilst the 5th looked to be a totally new youngster.  This young bird when first spotted, was well out towards the breakwater, and seemed to be a young Whooper Swan with tinges of red on the head and neck.  When it got closer, I could see that it was a young Mute Swan, easily noted by the knob at the base of it's beak.  On a couple of occasions, all of the swans were out of the water, but none were ringed.

A New Juvenile Mute Swan at Antrim Marina  (18 Mar 2024)

A pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls were also perched on the concrete jetty when I arrived.  Presumably, these were the same two birds that came and went throughout the morning.  A single Common Gull was also perched among the Black-headed's on my arrival.  A juvenile Common Gull made a brief appearance at 12:37, and by 1pm, three adult Common Gulls were present.

At 1:05, the distinctive call of a Mediterranean Gull could be heard, which had me running about with my camera.  The gull was flying about all over the place making repeated calls, and tried to hunt down the Black-headed's as they flew about with bread in their beaks.  Was this Med Gull ringed?  It did not help me by landing on the river.  It then took off and had me on the chase again.  Finally, it landed on the rail of the concrete jetty where I managed to get a photo, and sadly no rings.  Last summer, a 'Live' camera on the nearby 'Torpedo Platform' captured the presence of Mediterranean Gulls, but it is not known whether they bred successfully there.

For an adult that I have not seen here before, this bird turned out to be quite interesting.  Prior to my departure, it was on the slipway among the Black-headed Gulls trying to grab bread underneath the feet of the public and showed no fear.  It was obvious that the gull has had interactions with people in the past.

Adult Mediterranean Gull at Antrim Marina  (18 Mar 2024)

The resident pair of Herring Gulls finally arrived at 12:34.  A juvenile Herring Gull at 1:26, followed by a third calendar year bird at 1:28, flew off again minutes later.

A Mallard count on arrival gave a total off 22 birds, and a second count just after 1pm saw numbers had increased to 37.  With birds on the water at all times, I do not think that all legs were checked, but no rings were spotted among those that did come ashore.

The Cormorant, which has grabbed the attention of many passers by over the last two weeks, hopped up onto the concrete jetty at 12:45.  Again, it gained much attention of passers by, including a Scottish Group possibly staying at the adjacent caravan park.  Having asked what the bird was, I informed them of it's name, and I found it amusing that they had never heard of that species before.  Trying to make comparisons, I asked whether they had ever heard of a Shag.  One lady, to the 'chuckles' of her husband, said 'many of a shag she had had'.  I told her that I did not mean that shag and suggested we change the subject before things got out of hand.  However, the subject continued to the amusement of all.  Really enjoyed that bit of 'banter'.

5 Jackdaws, 1 Hooded Crow, 1 Rook and a Pied Wagtail, were also noted here today.

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