Antrim Marina - Monday 26th August 2024

Antrim Marina - Monday 26th August 2024

As I've been back to work since early July, I have reverted to the Sunday visits as I now work a day shift from Monday to Friday.  I got up on Sunday morning with the intentions of visiting Antrim Marina, but the rain began to fall soon after.  Looking at the weather maps, it was forecasted to rain all day, and so it did.  Luckily for me, I was off work on Monday due to a Bank Holiday, therefore I made my visit today instead.

I opted for a slightly later visit, arriving at 11am and had intended to stay until 3pm.  By 2pm, so few colour-rings were now being recorded, I decided to call it a day.  Although cloudy, the wind was light and the temperature gauge in my car was reading 16ºC.

Around 70 Black-headed Gulls were spread across the jetties, with colour-rings being read at a steady pace.  With the addition of -  2BRD  last week, this winter's total for colour-rings had risen to 22 altogether.  Hopefully, if all of my colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls make it back for the winter, the overall total should hit 34.  So far, it is looking fairly good for returning birds, when compared to last winter, when I realised at an early stage, many of my gulls were missing.  I lost nearly half of my colour-ringed gulls most likely due to the effects of Bird Flu.

With the ring of last winter's juvenile -  2FJF  being the first to be read at 11:05, by 12:13 the ring of -  2ABN  was the 16th to be read.  I kept a special watch on -  2ABN , as on my first visit (4th August), it was suffering from a really bad leg injury.  Today, it was able to put weight on the leg, although it still had a slight limp.  It should heal fully over the next few weeks.

A total of 19 colour-rings were read today, the last being -  2ACV  at 1:21pm.  The total included one new returnee, my 6th sighting at 11:09.  Reaching for my camera, it was the Icelandic bird -  2FHV  which I made comment about in my previous Antrim post.  Ringed as an unsexed adult  in November 2021, return dates for both 2022 and 2023, were recorded on the 8th August.  Better late than never, the duration since being ringed, is now 2 years, 9 months and 18 days.

 2FHV , was spotted during the breeding season months of June and July 2022, in the Akureyri area in northern Iceland.  No breeding season sightings were reported from Iceland in 2023 or 2024.  In Iceland, a full census on Black-headed and Common Gulls is carried out every fifth year, therefore -  2FHV  may go unnoticed until the next census.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FHV   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (26 Aug 2024)

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

With the return of -  2FHV , this winter's total now rises to 23 colour-rings.  With 11 more still to return, the breeding sites for many of these are still unknown.   2FDL  (Sweden),  2FDJ  (Estonia) and  2AFD  (Latvia), will eagerly be awaited on.   2AFD  is normally the last to arrive - usually around the third week of November.  The Swedish -  2FDL  for some reason arrived back very late last winter, not appearing until the 14th January 2024.  Having been ringed in November 2019 this gives some indication of an arrival date.

Overall, numbers remained between 60 to 80 birds during the course of my visit.  Juvenile numbers are still very low, with less than 10 present.  Some of these juveniles are growing ever confident when being around people.  I should be able to catch a few in the coming weeks as natural food becomes less available.

One Black-headed Gull which did not appear today, was the Icelandic metal-rung bird -  543335 .

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Monday 26th August 2024

2FJF	2FJL	2FJN	2AAN	2FFX	2FHV	2AAB	2FFA	2CSK	2FJA
2FIL	2FFT	2FIF	2FJK	2CJT	2ABN	2BRA	2FJT	2ACV

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

2BRD	2CSR	2FHC	2FIJ

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

With no Mute Swans present during my three previous visit, there was still no birds to be seen on my arrival.  Minutes later, a single bird appeared at the breakwater, making it's way in towards the Marina.  Hauling out onto the slipway at 11:07, it was the metal-rung -  X4707 .   X4707 , was ringed as an adult male, on the 5th April 2024, at Bartins Bay on Lough Neagh - 21 kms / 13 miles (SSW).  It first appeared at Antrim Marina on the 21st May 2024, with a further sighting here in May, and two in June, the last being on the 23rd June.

During these early sightings,  X4707  was paired with a female.  Talking to Danny from Lough Neagh Rescue, he said a swan was found dead a couple of weeks back, so it could be the partner of  X4707 .  The duration since being ringed, is 4 months and 21 days.  The one good feature with these deeper metal-rings, is that the code is also included on the ring 'butt', which makes reading the address side of the ring a whole lot easier.

Mute Swan  -   X4707   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (26 Aug 2024)

(Ringed as an Adult Male, on the 5th April 2024, at Bartins Bay, Lough Neagh, Co. Antrim)

Shortly after the arrival of  X4707 , a pair of swans with a single cygnet rounded the breakwater.  Coming in slowly, they landed onto the slipway at 11:20.  Meeting the adults with some bread, they quickly came to hand.  Neither bird was ringed, but they were certainly used to being around people.  The cygnet was tiny for this time of the year, indicating a very late hatching date.  Although this youngster seems happy to be around people, it 'hisses' when being offered bread.

Mute Swan Cygnet Along With it's Father  -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (26 Aug 2024)

The crying sound of the juvenile Herring Gull was constant throughout.  Along with it's father, they were present the whole time.  The female arrived at 11:26, and she tried to distance herself from the youngster as much as she could.  Two Lesser Black-backed Gulls made repeated visits, and once again, not a single Common Gull appeared.

1 Hooded Crow and 1 Rook made brief visits, whilst 5 Jackdaws made repeated visits.

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