Antrim Marina - Sunday 1st September 2024...

Antrim Marina - Sunday 1st September 2024

This week's weekly visit to Antrim Marina turned out to be very poor after a promising start.  Arriving at 10am, it was a calm though cloudy morning with the temperature gauge in my car reading 15ºC.  As the morning wore on, the wind strengthened, blowing in from a more easterly direction.

So far this winter, I have recorded 23 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls, out of a possible 34 gulls that were recorded by the end of last winter, seven of which had been caught and ringed before Christmas.  Last winter's total had been reduced by around half due to birds failing to return after the breeding season, with 'Bird Flu' the likely cause of these losses.

Arriving today, the Black-headed Gulls were nicely settled around the jetties, and a head count gave a total of 71 birds, with the ring of -  2FFX  being the first to be read at 10:02.  At 10:56, the ring of -  2FIL  was the 13th to be read, and soon afterwards the gulls began to disappear.  At times, there were no Black-headed's present at all, with the biggest gap being just before 12:30 until 13:15.   Just 15 rings were read altogether today, with -  2FJL  at 11:20 being the 14th, with -  2CJT  being the 15th arriving with a small batch of gulls at 1.15pm.  

 2CJT , is a year round resident to the Marina, and is normally among the first of the rings to be read from week to week.  Today's late arrival, makes this the third week in a row it has happened.  Among today's eight absentees is -  2FFT .  This bird is normally a rare visitor to the Marina despite having been ringed here.  I reckoned that this gull uses Antrim as a 'staging post' moving to and from it's wintering and breeding sites.  Surprisingly,  2FFT  had been recorded during each of my four previous visits this winter, as compared to a total of six sightings here since being ringed in December 2020, with the last of those six having been recorded in October 2023.

With no more returnees this week, this winter's total of colour-rings remains at 23.  With 11 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls still to return, I had a closer look at the histories for some of these.  One that stands out is that of -  2FDK .  Ringed as an adult, back in November 2019, the accumulation of winter and breeding season sightings confirmed this bird as a year round resident.  The final sighting here last winter, was on the 25th February 2024.  Although it was not seen at the Marina during the summer, a Liz Payne reported that the gull had landed on the bonnet of her car at Antrim's McDonalds Outlet on the 13th July 2024.  With no appearances here as yet, I wonder what has happened to this bird.

 2FIA , is another gull which should be present here by now.  Ringed here as a second winter bird in November 2021, in 2022 and 2023, it had arrived back at the Marina by late July and early August.  So a question mark now hangs over this one too.  It was last seen here on the 3rd March 2024.

 2FIK , is one of those gulls that is always under your feet, but not so this winter.  Although it was ringed here as an adult in September 2022, that winter it was last seen on the 20th March 2023, before returning to the Marina in late July 2023, thereafter being recorded almost every week through to the 31st March 2024.

 2FIP , would be similar to -  2FIK  just mentioned.  Ringed as a second calendar year bird in November 2022, it returned to the Marina on the 31st July 2023, remaining through to the 11th March 2024.  As this gull is now an adult, it might just take a little longer in returning to the Marina after the breeding season - could it be a foreign breeding bird?

Here we have four gulls that should be back by now.  Two other gulls that were ringed here last winter, I know absolutely nothing about them.   2FJH , was ringed in November 2023, whilst -  2FJP , was ringed in December 2023.  Both could be foreign breeders which are yet to return.

 2AFD  (Latvia),  2FDJ  (Estonia),  2FDL  (Sweden) and  2FHT  (Poland), should all return by late November.   2CTA , is the last of these eleven still to return.  Ringed as a second winter bird in December 2018, the whereabouts of it's summer holidays are as yet unknown.  The earliest return dates for this gull were recorded on the 25th October 2020 and  25th October 2021.

Although absent during last week's visit, the metal-rung Icelandic Black-headed Gull -  543335 , was among the first gulls recorded today.  Ringed in Iceland in July 2023, it first appeared at the Marina on the 21st August 2023, remaining until the 24th March 2024.  This winter, it's return was recorded on my second weekly visit on the 11th August 2024.  Having narrowly missed catching this gull on several occasions last winter in order to add a colour-ring, I'm hoping for better luck this winter.  The gull would be more visible when it returns home next summer.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Sunday 1st September 2024

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

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

2ABN	2ACV	2BRD	2CSR	2FFT	2FHC	2FIJ	2FJA

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, today's visit was very poor.  A lower number of Mallards were present today, with the initial count of 57 birds being quickly whittled down to around the 30 mark.  As of the norm, most if not all legs were checked for rings.

Also of the norm of late, was the absence of Mute Swans.  Several people have asked me if I knew what was happening with the swans and whether the 'Blue-Green Algae' had anything to do with there absence here.  Others have told me, that there are small flocks of swans slightly south of the Marina on the eastern shore of Lough Neagh - possibly just south of Rea's Wood.  The metal-rung -  X4707 , appeared from the direction of the Lough at 11:01.  This male was ringed on the 5th April 2024, at Bartins Bay on Lough Neagh.  This is now the birds 6th sighting here, first appearing in May 20224.

Although the adult pair of Herring Gulls were present throughout my visit (perched on the roof of the Gateway Centre), there was no sign of their youngster until 11:44, when that familiar crying was once heard again.  This youngster is so confident standing at the feet of folk feeding the ducks.  Surely I can get this one ringed with a metal at some point over the winter.

Not a single Common Gull again this week, but a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls arrived at 10:20, and were still present on my departure at 1:45pm.

3 Jackdaws, and a record high of 5 Rooks, were the only other birds recorded today.

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