Antrim Marina - Sunday 17th November 2024...

Antrim Marina - Sunday 17th November 2024

I arrived at Antrim Marina at 9:55am with high hopes for returning colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls from a few foreign countries.  Light rain on my arrival soon cleared, with the odd slight showers of drizzle throughout the morning.  Despite being dull, there was a light westerly breeze with the temperature gauge in my car reading 8ºC.  I had intended to remain until 2pm, but the sky darkened around 1:30, followed by heavy rainfall by 1:45pm.  With my car parked on a slight slope, the water flowed off the roof of my car, so I called it a day.

A rough count of the Black-headed Gulls gave a total of around 60 birds, thereafter, numbers slowly increased to 90+ by the time I made a second count at 11am.  It may have been possible that they just surpassed the 100 mark, which is the highest so far this winter.  After several feeds from passers-by, numbers decreased to around 60 when I had to depart.

So far this winter, 25 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls have been recorded, and by 12:01, 19 of these had been re-sighted, and for the next two hours, no others were recorded.  None of my hopeful returnees appeared, which is beginning to make me wonder, is the mild weather holding them back, or has something more sinister has happened.  With none of these returning, my next visit should see the return of the Latvian -  2AFD , which is normally the last to return each winter.

Among the 19 colour-rings recorded today, my 2nd sighting at 9:58 came as a bit of a surprise.   2FJF , was a juvenile bird which I caught and ringed last winter, and the only juvenile out of 8 gulls caught and ringed over last winter.  Ringed on the 12th November 2023, it was recorded regularly until the 31st March 2024.  There were no sightings of this gull at the Marina during random visits during the breeding season.  On my first weekly visit during this autumn/winter, it was present on the 4th August 2024, with further sightings through to the 15th September, after which time, it disappeared.  As the next few weeks past-by, I decided that the gull was no longer with us and I wrote it off.  There was no missing it today, as it hung about my car bossing all of the other gulls.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FJF   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (17 Nov 2024)

(Ringed as a Juvenile/1st Winter Bird, on the 12th November 2023, at Antrim Marina)

The sighting of -  2CTA , also came as a surprise, as this is the third week in a row it has now been recorded.  This is now the fourth record for this gull since it's return to the Marina on the 13th October 2024.  I still believe that this is a foreign breeder, and last winter, it did not return until the 26th November 2023.  Once back, sightings are usually few and far between, as I reckon it spends most of it's time somewhere around the town of Antrim.

Black-headed Gull  -   2CTA   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (17 Nov 2024)

(Ringed as an Unsexed 2nd Winter Bird, on the 10th December 2018, at Antrim Marina)

I had 6 absentees today, and one of these is now causing some concern.   2FHV , was ringed as an unsexed adult, on the 8th November 2021.  In the past, it has been sighted in northern Iceland on two occasions during the breeding season in the vicinity of nesting colonies.  This winter, it returned to the Marina on the 28th August 2024, with weekly re-sightings through to the 19th October 2024.  Although it is missing at present, I might be 'jumping the gun'.  Back on the 2022/2023 winter, it went AWOL after the 10th October 2022, and did not show up again at the Marina until the 26th February 2023.  It will be interesting to see what happens from here on.  Is it possible, that this bird is using the Marina as a 'staging point' before moving on to it's wintering sight.  These type of anomalies are the problems to sort out whilst building profiles for each gull.

The metal-rung Icelandic Black-headed Gull -  543335 , was recorded at 10:06.  It returned to the Marina on the 11th August 2024, and has been recorded on most weeks since.  I'd love to get a colour-ring put onto this bird before it returns to Iceland next spring.  My best chance to catch it, will be on the slipway in the presence of some Mute Swans.  I think this bird is 'taunting' me, as it is constantly walking up to the door of my car looking for some bread.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Sunday 17th November 2024

2FJA	2FJF	2CSR	2FFA	2FJT	2FFX	2CJT	2BRA	2AAN	2FIL
2FIF	2FJN	2ABN	2ACV	2FHC	2FJL	2AAB	2CTA	2CSK

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

2BRD	2FFH	2FFT	2FHV	2FIJ	2FJK

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

As always, I look out for Mute Swans on my arrival, but again, there were none about.  At 10:42, a pair arrived from up-river, with two large brown cygnets following them.  I tempted them onto the slipway with bread, but they were not interested, making me think that they are not normal visitors here.  Within minutes, the family party swan out to the breakwater turning left onto Lough Neagh.  An elderly gent who feeds the ducks on most days with a carrier-bag full of bread, told me that some swans were on the slipway yesterday.

Mallard numbers remain low for this time of the year.  With around 40 on my arrival, numbers increased to around 60 by midday before dropping down to around 30 after receiving several feeds of bread and some pellets from the dispenser.

Two adult Common Gulls were also present on my arrival.  A further two arrived at 10:44, and a 5th at 11:14.  All five remained throughout the remainder of my visit, but the small Scottish metal-rung bird was not among them.

The resident adult male Herring Gull arrived at 10:15, and his single offspring arrived at 10:32.  The youngster is not as boisterous now, but still chances a feed from dad on occasions, though he is not interested.

2 adult Jackdaws were likely the same two seen throughout my visit, and a noisy, bold juvenile appeared at 1:33pm.  For all it's size, it did not hold back when chasing some of the Black-headed Gulls.

A pair of Pied Wagtails made repeated visits, and a Great-crested Grebe spent quite a while fishing on the river along the length of the Marina.

Great-crested Grebe  -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (17 Nov 2024)

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