Antrim Marina - Sunday 6th October 2024...

Antrim Marina - Sunday 6th October 2024

Today I was making my tenth weekly visit to Antrim Marina to study the wintering population of Black-headed Gulls, especially those that are colour-ringed.  So far this winter, 23 out of a possible 34 colour-rings have been read.  Of the remaining 11 gulls still to return, I have since decided to write off four of these as the should have been here from August, though I gave them the month of September as well.  I arrived at the Marina shortly after 10am.  It was a cloudy day, with a fair breeze blowing in from Lough Neagh, and the temperature gauge in my car read 15ºC.  Shortly after midday, showers of drizzle fell, leading to periods of heavier rainfall.

With the gulls and ducks nicely settled on parking my car beside the small concrete jetty, a count of the Black-headed Gulls totalled 63 birds.  Numbers increased to between 70 and 80 gulls by 12:30, and after this, numbers dropped down to around the 40 mark by the time of my departure at 2pm.

The first three rings to be read at 10:11, were those of  2FFA , the Icelandic  2FHV  and  2FJA .  My 7th sighting came as a bit of a shock.  Spotted at 10:25 on the long wooden jetty, was  2FFH .  Although I knew the gull was one of mine, I simply could not place the code.  I went back to my car to get my camera, but my initial photos were not great as the bird was facing me head on.  Later, I was able to obtain better photos when the gull landed on the rails of the concrete jetty.  Raking my mind wondering about the code, was it one of the two gulls that had been seen on the Whiteabbey Shore?  I couldn't wait to get home to look up the code. 

Wow, I had caught and ringed  2FFH  as a juvenile/1st calendar year bird at the Marina on the 7th December 2020.  After being ringed, it was recorded over my next two visits (14th & 21st December 2020), and then disappeared before turning up again on the 19th April 2021.  The next sighting was reported in an email from David Morrow.  He had spotted  2FFH  at Ballyronan Marina, on the 21st October 2021.  Ballyronan Marina is situated in the top left hand corner of Lough Neagh, some 19 kms / 11 miles (W) from Antrim Marina.

I can remember visiting Ballyronan Marina in the autumn and winter of 2022 to see if I could find the gull there, and having failed to return to Antrim, I eventually wrote the bird off as having perished.  On my Antrim Marina spreadsheet, the column for this bird was filled in with 'Red', (Dead).  I now had to 'Un-Kill'  2FFH .

All in all, I was glad to see it back in good health.  Watching it closely, it was at ease in joining the other gulls trying to get a share of the bread being fed to the ducks.  The only question now, is, will it remain here for the rest of the winter?  It is now 3 years, 9 months and 29 days since I ringed this one.  Could it also be a foreign bird?

Black-headed Gull  -   2FFH   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (06 Oct 2024)

(Ringed as a Juvenile/1st Calendar Year Bird, on the 7th December 2020, at Antrim Marina)

Juvenile/1st Winter Black-headed Gull  -   2FFH   -  Antrim Marina  (14 Dec 2020)

At the end of my first hour, I had recorded 16 colour-rings, with that of  2CSK  being read at 11:12.  My final and 19th colour-ring to be read at 13:21, was  2CSR .  Other than the unexpected return of  2FFH , none of the gulls that I've been waiting on appeared today.

Hopefully, things will become interesting over the next two to three weeks, as we reach the time when  2FDJ  returns from Estonia, plus the possibility that  2CTA  and  2FHT  (Poland) turning up as well.

Among today's five absentees, was that of  2FJF .  I'm now concerned about this gull, as it has not been seen since the 15th September 2024.  Prior to that, it had been recorded every week since my first weekly visit back on the 4th August 2024.  It was the only juvenile among the eight gulls that I caught and ringed last winter, which makes it rather special.

The Icelandic metal-rung Black-headed Gull -  543335 , was spotted at 10:53 this morning, having been absent last week.  Like many of the other gulls, they came tantalisingly close to being caught and ringed, but they appear not to be hungry enough to take a chance feeding among the legs of the swans.  A few more swans on the slipway might help.

With  2FFH  putting in an appearance, this winter's total of colour-rings now sits at 24.

An email arrived with me on Sunday evening from a Maria Mulholland.  It turns out that she is a trainee ringer under the guidance of Steven Fyffe. Maria arrived at the Marina just after I had departed at 2pm.  Maria recorded two colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls -  2FIL  and  2FJL , both having been recorded during my visit.  Maria using binoculars could not read the rings of two other gulls as the colour-rings were covered in mud.  Those two were  2FFX  and  2FJT , and I had to use my camera to read those codes.  Thank you Maria to take the time to make the sightings and to report them to me.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Sunday 6th October 2024

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

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

2BRD	2FFT	2FIF	2FIJ	2FJF

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

A count of the Mallards on my arrival, gave a total of 57 birds, with roughly the same number being present throughout my visit.  As usual, most if not all legs were checked for rings of the course of my stay.

There were no Mute Swans present on my arrival, but the first pair arrived in from Lough Neagh at 11:15.  Although both came to the slipway, neither could be enticed to come out onto the slipway.  Even reaching out to them with bread, they were very hesitant to come close, which tells me that they are not regulars here.  After spending a bit of time to look at their legs in the water, neither of them were ringed.

A second pair of Mute Swans arrived from the Lough at 12:30, but I never got a chance to see their legs, as they were repeatedly chased off by the male of the first pair.  A fifth bird, a male, appeared from upriver at 12:45.  This bird was allowed to alight onto the slipway, but it was not ringed.  

Once again, there was no sigh of the metal-rung Mute Swan -  X4707 .  My last sighting here of this male bird, was made on the 8th September 2024.  This same bird was here in June 2024 and had a partner at the time.  Making it's first appearance here of the winter on the 26th August 2024, it was on it's own.  Around that time, Danny from the Lough Neagh Rescue Team, told me that a swan had been found dead a few weeks before my first visit on the 8th August 2024, possibly this bird's partner.  Has X4707 departed for Bartins Bay where it was ringed in April 2024?

The resident male Herring Gull arrived at 10:48.  Once again, there was no sign of his partner or of his youngster.  I thought this young gull would remain at the Marina, especially seeing as it was receiving good feeds from the public whilst feeding the ducks.

A single un-ringed Common Gull arrived at 12:18, staying for around 15 minutes before flying back out towards Lough Neagh.

Just two Jackdaws, 1 Hooded Crow and a pair of Pied Wagtails were the only other species noted here today.

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