Antrim Marina - Saturday 19th October 2024...

Antrim Marina - Saturday 19th October 2024

With the expected arrival of 'Storm Ashley' on Sunday 20th October 2024, I decided to visit Antrim Marina on Saturday the 19th.  This turned out to be a very good decision, as Sunday turned out to be very blustery day.

With it being Saturday, I arrived at Antrim Marina at the slightly later time of 10:40am, having completed a couple of chores at home in Ballymena before heading to Antrim.  On arrival, the sky was a 50/50 mix of sun and cloud, fairly calm, and the temperature gauge in my car read 11ºC.  As the morning wore on, the wind speed increased which made it feel a lot colder.

With the early return of -  2CTA  during my previous visit on Sunday 13th October 2024, today I was on the lookout for 25 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls recorded so far this winter, plus any further returnees.  Hoping to record the return of -  2FDJ  from Estonia today, there was no sign of it, or any others.

Things were a bit hectic when I arrived, as some folk were already feeding the ducks, with the gulls trying to grab a share of the bread and pellets purchased from the new dispenser.  Although the gulls were flying around all over the place, I estimated that there were easily around 80 of them.

The reading of colour-rings progressed nicely over the first hour, with -  2BRA  being the first to be read at 10:41, and 15 had been read by 11:03 ( 2FJT ).  Altogether, 19 rings were read today, the final four being -  2CSR  at 12:05,  2FIF  at 12:20,  2AAB  at 13:23 and -  2BRD  at 13:56.   2BRD , is not frequently recorded at the Marina during the winter, though I reckon it does hang out somewhere around the town of Antrim.  Today's sighting of -  2BRD , is the third here this winter, having previously been recorded on the 18th August and 22nd September 2024.  My first sighting today -  2BRA  and then -  2BRD , were both ringed here by Adam McClure on the 1st February 2015, as part of his former Northern Ireland Study.  It is now 9 years, 7 months and 21 days since the two of them were ringed.

Black-headed Gull  -   2BRD   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (19 Oct 2024)

(Ringed as an Adult Male, on the 1st February 2016, at Antrim Marina)

The metal-rung Icelandic Black-headed Gull -  543335 , was spotted at 10:49.  This bird returned to the Marina for a second winter running on the 11th August 2024, and was ringed in southern Iceland on the 14th July 2023.

A proper head count of the Black-headed Gulls was made at 12:45, with a total 83 counted.  By the time of my departure at 14:45, I reckon numbers remained around the same point, which was surprising as gulls would normally move on having had a good feed.

Trying to catch new birds to be ringed is proving to be quite hopeless task, as they are getting far too many early feeds from the public.  Both the gulls and some ducks regularly check the ground below the feed dispenser.  With the pellets falling into a static bowl, there is quite a good bit of spillage when people try to scoop the pellets onto their hands.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Saturday 19th October 2024

2BRA	2AAN	2FFX	2CSK	2FJA	2CJT	2FJK	2FFA	2FIL	2FJN
2FHV	2ACV	2ABN	2FHC	2FJT	2CSR	2FIF	2AAB	2BRD

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

2CTA	2FFH	2FFT	2FIJ	2FJF	2FJL

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

In my previous post, I made mention about the lack of Common Gulls visiting the Marina so far this winter.  They must have read my post, as four adults were present on my arrival today.  By 12:12, I had 6 adults on site, though the small Scottish metal-rung female was not among them.  So far this winter, the female has been recorded on just two occasions - 4th August and 29th September 2024.

As always on my arrival, I look to see how many Mute Swans are about, as I use their presence on the slipway to catch Black-headed Gulls.  Once again, not a single swan was recorded.  Some people tell me that there are swans just south of the nearby Rea's Wood, so I cannot understand why none are visiting the Marina.

A rough count of the Mallards on my arrival gave me a total of 48 birds, with numbers quickly increasing to around 70 a short time later.  With so many feeds on the go today, most if not all legs were checked for metal-rings.

The young juvenile Herring Gull was present throughout todays visit, with it's father arriving at 11:50.  There was no sign of the female which has been absent for a couple of weeks now.  A second juvenile Herring Gull made a brief visit at 10:51.  There were too many people around for it's liking.  An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull also made a brief appearance at 11:58.

Two pairs of Rooks appeared briefly at 13:14.  Looks like they have also discovered the benefits of the pellet dispenser, a quick check on the ground and then they moved on.  I wonder what's going on with the Jackdaws?  Just the two today, whilst in more recent winters, numbers would easily surpass the dozen mark.  A single male Pied Wagtail completed today's other birds. 

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