Antrim Marina - Sunday 21st September 2025...

Antrim Marina - Sunday 21st September 2025

Today saw me making my eighth weekly visit to Antrim Marina to study the wintering population of Black-headed Gulls.  Each week from the beginning of August until the last weekend in March, I aim to read as many of the colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls over a period of four hours.  I arrived at the Marina at 9:57am, and though I was due to depart at 2pm, the last minute arrival of a small flock of gulls, meant I stayed on for an extra half hour.

On arrival, the sky was clear and there was a light northerly breeze, but the tall trees on the opposite side of the river sheltered the Marina.  The temperature gauge on my car read 11ºC.  As the morning wore on, the sky darkened somewhat and there was three heavy showers of rain, each accompanied by stronger winds.

So far this winter, I had recorded a total of 22 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls, but no new returnees were recorded today.  It was a strange day, with numbers fluctuating widely.  Around 40 Black-headed Gulls were present on my arrival, and there were times when non were present at all.  The reading of colour-rings was spread out during the whole of the visit.  You always no that you are having a poor visit, when the ever faithful resident -  2CJT  is late appearing, this time, at 12:26.  With the late arrival of a small flock of gulls, the Icelandic -  543335  arrived at 13:42,  2FJT  at 13:58 and  2ABN  at 14:06.  When I departed at 2:30pm, around 60 Black-headed Gulls were now present - the high for the day.

16 colour-rings were read altogether, leaving me with 6 absentees.  Looking at my Antrim Marina Spreadsheet, there is still no sign of two gulls that were recorded during random summer visits, these possibly nesting on the nearby 'Torpedo Platform'.   2FJL , was last seen on the 2nd July 2025, and looking at it's past history, should have been recorded weekly since August.  The second gull -  2FIJ , was last seen on the 26th May 2025.  The previous history for this gull suggests it is more of a summer visitor to the Marina, with the odd few autumn and spring sightings.

One other Black-headed Gull that should have been here since the start of August is -  2FHC .  Ringed at the Marina in December 2020 as an adult, it has never been recorded here during any breeding season, but it was always present by the time I begin my weekly winter visits.  It is now looking more likely, that I have now lost another of the study birds.

In a way, it was just as well that no new ringed gulls turned up today, as I forgot to bring my camera with me.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Sunday 21st September 2025

2FFA	2FJK	2FKA	2FJN	2FFX	2FHV	2FIF	2FJA
2CSK	2AAN	2CSR	2BRA	2CJT	2FJF	2FJT	2ABN

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

2ACV	2BRD	2FDK	2FFT	2FIL	2FJV

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

Driving across the car park towards the small concrete jetty, the first birds that normally catches my attention are the Mute Swans.  Today, five adults were resting on the slipway.  After taking a count of the birds present, I then checked the swans for rings.  Although non were ringed, I was able to identify last week's female due to the orange streak on top of her head.  There was no sign of the resident pair along with their six cygnets, and they were still absent when I departed at 2:30pm.

With the swans checked, I then went looking for the juvenile Mediterranean Gull which was present during my three previous visits.  The Med Gull colour-rings that Sean Kingston posted to me did not arrive before the weekend, which was just as well, as there was no sign of this juvenile today.  The colour-rings have since arrived, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my next visit.

Just 30 Mallards were present and numbers decreased over my visit.  Just 13 were present when I departed.  Once again, most, if not all legs were checked for rings.

The resident male Herring Gull was present throughout my visit, though there was no sign of his partner or their youngster.  The second calendar year Herring Gull arrived at 10:50, and was soon chased off by the resident male.  I'm still fairly certain that this bird was last year's chick belonging to the resident pair.

An un-ringed adult Common Gull made a brief visit at 11:00, and the same bird returned at 13:50, making a another brief visit.  The head of this gull was so distinctive, meaning it was the same bird.  A Lesser Black-backed Gull landed on one of the highest lampposts at 11:09.  It stood there for around an hour.

5 Jackdaws, 2 Hooded Crows, 1 Rook and a male Pied Wagtail were also noted.

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