Antrim Marina - Wednesday 12th November 2025...

Antrim Marina - Wednesday 12th November 2025

Reaching the ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) barrier at Antrim Marina, my heart immediately sank with what I saw in front of me.  The 'Dredging Crew' were back again, which will mean that a few weeks of disturbance lies ahead.  They were here on one previous occasion, though I cannot remember when that was.  The dredging operation sees them starting at the breakwater leading into Lough Neagh, and over time, moving closer and closer to the Marina.  The silt which is brought ashore beside the 'Low Wooden Jetty', is taken away by lorries.  This will mean the 'Low Wooden Jetty' is no longer available to the gulls to rest on.

Having passed through the ANPR barrier, the pontoon carrying the JCB digger was just passing the 'Short Concrete Jetty' where I park my car, making it's way out to the entrance of Lough Neagh.  In the first photo below, my parking spot is beside the bend in the fencing just passed the swan on the left.  The next two photos cover the compound beside the 'Low Wooden Jetty'.

The Barge Loaded With the JCB Digger Passing the Short Concrete Jetty on it's Way Out to Lough Neagh  (12 Nov 2025)

First of Two Views Beside the Low Wooden Jetty at Antrim Marina  (12 Nov 2025)

The Second View Beside the Low Wooden Jetty at Antrim Marina  (12 Nov 2025)

(Note :-  Where the Two Vans are Parked, is Where the Crack Willow Tree Stood Which has Recently Been Removed)

(See Main Photo at the Foot of This Page)

This next photo shows the pontoon in place and the 'Tender' making it's way out to be loaded up with silt.

Barge in Place at the Breakwater with Silt Tender Making it's Way Out  (12 Nov 2025)

I arrived at the Marina at 11am this morning.  Weatherwise, it was cloudy and calm, with the temperature gauge in my car reading 11ºC.  After last week's disastrous visit, and seeing the 'Dredging Crew' today, I felt like leaving for home straight away.  Having said that, today's visit ended up being better than expected.

Around 50 Black-headed Gulls were present when I arrived, and numbers held up fairly well throughout my visit with numbers ranging from 40 to 70 gulls.  So far this winter, 23 Colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls have been recorded, a number which has remained static for a few weeks now.  Although this was a reasonably good visit, no further returnees were recorded today.   The reading of colour-rings progressed fairly well from the off, and then I spotted a new gull.

Just after 11:30, I grabbed my camera and took a walk to the side of the 'Gateway Centre' which gives an easy view onto the 'Long Wooden Jetty' opposite.  Scanning through the legs of the gulls, I spotted -  2AAN , and then noticed a Black-headed Gull with a meta-ring.  The ring was fitted upside down and looked to be a British sized metal, which I took a photo of.  Looking through the remaining gulls -  2ABN  was also present.

My focus now, was to obtain the full number on the new gull with the metal ring.  Whilst moving to a closer position to zoom in with my camera, a gent on a bicycle stopped me to ask if I was the 'Environment Man' - having noticed the plates attached to the rear doors of my car - 'Environmental Study Vehicle'.  I explained that I had nothing directly to do with the Environment, but it was the 'Local Councils' way of allowing me to bring my car into the Marina.  I told him about my Black-headed Gull Study and the use of 'Colour Coded Rings'.  By the time our little conversation ended (about 10 minutes), my gull with the metal-ring had flown away and did not return.

Back at home, I looked at my single photo, and it was a 'British' ring, and the address 'London' could clearly be seen.  All that I could clearly see of the number, was the digits ' 56 '.  Preceding these, was, what looked like an ' L ' followed by a ' 8 ' or ' 3 '.  Although the letter before the 'L' could not be seen, I knew it had to be an ' E ', which is always used on that size of ring.

I then went online to check the number on the 'BTO's' Live DemOn Ringing Database.  First entering - ' EL85601 ' then moving through the final two digits, I found that this series was mostly used on Stone Curlews of various ages.  I then tried ' EL35601 ' and so on, and found many matches for Black-headed Gulls, also of varying ages.  With the given dates, I reckon this Black-headed Gull was likely to have been ringed as a chick in June 2019.  However, DemOn does not show ringing locations.  I will now keep a special lookout in case this gull returns over the winter and try to capture the full number.   

Black-headed Gull  -  Possibly    EL356 **   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (12 Nov 2025)

Altogether, I recorded 17 out of 23 colour-rings, which left me with 8 absentees today.  One thing that was surprising about today's visit, the gulls were not at all phased by the dredging operations or the noise that went along with it.

The Icelandic metal-rung Black-headed Gull -  543335  arrived at 12:28, having been spotted on the 'Long Wooden Jetty'.  These days, this jetty is favoured more by the Common Gulls, but with the 'Low Wooden Jetty' unavailable, the jetty had far more Black-headed Gulls on it than normal.  Being a calm day, an unknown number of gulls were also perched on the roof of the 'Gateway Centre'.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Wednesday 12th November 2025

2FFA	2FJT	2ACV	2AAN	2ABN	2CSK	2FJA	2CJT
2FIL	2FFX	2BRA	2CSR	2FIF	2FKA	2FJN

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

2BRD	2FDK	2FFT	2FHV	2FJF	2FJK	2FJV	2FJX

With no further returnees of late, I have listed below, the gulls that I am still waiting on.   2AAB , is a year round resident at the Marina.  Last seen during March of this year, it was not recorded during the breeding season on random visits.

Two others on this list, is -  2FIJ  and  2FJL .  Both were recorded during random summer visits, therefore, they probably bred on the nearby 'Torpedo Platform'.  Neither have been seen since I began my weekly winter visits.  I will not write them off just yet.

 2AFD  and  2FDL , are known to breed in Latvia and Sweden respectively.  The return of -  2FDL , could be a hit or a miss. as it is not a regular winter visitor these days.   2AFD  however, normally returns by the third weekend in November.

 2FFH , was not added to the list, as it was found dead in a colony in the Netherlands in April 2025.

 2FHC , should have returned in August, but it's breeding site is unknown.  It is now looking as if this bird has perished.  This could be the same for -  2FJH , last seen here in February 2025, and -  2FJP , last seen here in March 2025.

 2FIX , made a single appearance last winter.  Since being ringed, prior to that sighting, I had wrote the gull off due a long period of absence.  The status for this gull now, is a rare visitor (possibly on passage to it's breeding or wintering site).

As for the remaining gulls, their breeding sites are not known, but all may well be breeding in foreign countries.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded Last Winter at Antrim Marina but Absent so far This Winter

2AAB	2AFD	2CTA	2FDL	2FHC	2FIJ	2FIX	2FJH	2FJL	2FJP

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

On my arrival, 8 adult Mute Swans were present, as well as three cygnets.  One of the adults was the metal-rung female -  X4707 .  She is the resident breeding female, and should have had six cygnets with her.  On two occasions, we have had an adult male with three cygnets visiting.  Danny from the Lough Neagh rescue team, said these three cygnets are usually seen on the Lough around the nearby Rea's Wood area.  After a short period of time, I discovered that today's three cygnets did belong to  X4707 , so I'm wondering what has happened to the other three.

Mallard numbers were reasonably good today.  Around 50 were present on my arrival, with around 50 still present when I departed.  As usual, most if not all legs were checked for rings.

A 2nd Calendar Year Herring Gull, and this year's juvenile Herring Gull, were present throughout my visit, sometimes practically standing together.  I'm still fairly sure that the second year bird, is last year's chick belonging to the resident pair of Herring Gulls.  Their father arrived at 11:50, and still has a slight limp.  At 1:37, the resident male started to call loudly, and on looking up to the top of a lamppost, his mate had arrived.  A second 'bulky' looking juvenile made a brief appearance at 12:05.

The first Common Gull arrived at 11:50, this being an adult bird.  A second adult appeared at 12:42.  A brief appearance of a Lesser Black-backed Gull was recorded at 12:25.

In my post last week, I mentioned the appearance of an adult Moorhen which was actively eating the droppings of the Black-headed Gulls.  I had seen this on one occasion a few years back, thinking that was not normal.  Last week's Moorhen was back on the 'Long Wooden Jetty' today and once again, eating the droppings.  Perhaps this is normal for them, though I have no idea how common this would be. 

Adult Moorhen Eating the Black-headed Gull Droppings  -  Antrim Marina  (12 Nov 2025)

Two pairs of Jackdaws made repeated visits.  Brief appearances of a pair of Hooded Crows and a male Pied Wagtail made up the remaining list of sightings.

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Antrim Marina - Tuesday 4th November 2025...

Antrim Marina - Tuesday 4th November 2025

This post is a wee bit late in being published, but a few problems at home needed sorting out first.  Disaster of all disasters - my mobile phone fell out of my pocket in my back garden shattering the screen.  With the cost of a replacement screen running at roughly half the cost of a new mobile, the latter was the best option.  Having purchased a new mobile, I then had the laborious task of downloading all of my favourite apps which also needed my login details to be added.  If that wasn't bad enough, the washing machine packed-up, leading to another new appliance.

My weekly visit to Antrim Marina on Tuesday 4th November was also a disaster.  This surely had to be the worst weekly visit for a very, very long time.  Arriving at 11am, it was calm and sunny, with the temperature gauge in my car reading 15ºC.

Studying a wintering population of Black-headed Gulls, just 31 were present as I parked my car beside the small concrete jetty.  Little did I know at that time, overall numbers never surpassed that original count.  Throughout the visit, an unknown number of gulls were perched on the roof of the 'Gateway Centre', which did not help when trying to read Black-headed Gulls with colour-coded rings.

So far this winter, 23 colour-coded rings have been recorded.  From 11am through to 12:31, 15 of those rings were read leaving me with 8 absentees.  I had intended to stay until 3pm, but, with no further rings read for two hours, I called it quits at 2:30.  No new returnees were recorded, which is worrying.  Is the mild weather a factor for the delay, or something more sinister such as 'Bird Flu'.  In the Northern Ireland News of late, 'Bird Flu' was confirmed on a chicken farm and separately in a flock of turkeys, leading to the destruction of both.

The metal-rung Icelandic Black-headed Gull -  543335  appeared at 11:51.  This bird which was ringed in July 2023, returned for the third winter running, on the 24th August 2025.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Tuesday 4th November 2025

2CSK	2FJA	2FFA	2CJT	2FJN	2FJT	2CSR	2FIF
2BRA	2AAN	2FKA	2FIL	2ACV	2FFX	2FJX

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

2ABN	2BRD	2FDK	2FFT	2FHV	2FJF	2FJK	2FJV

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

Just 19 Mallards were present on my arrival and by 1pm, not a single duck was present.  A couple were seen on the river near the breakwater leading into Lough Neagh.

Just two adult Mute Swans were on the slipway on my arrival.  A further two adults arrived independently from Lough Neagh, at 1:14 & 1:50pm.  For a second week running, there was no sign of the resident female and her six cygnets.  None of today's swans were ringed.

The resident male Herring Gull was present throughout my visit.  I noticed that he has a slight injury to his right leg and was limping slightly.  His juvenile youngster arrived at 12:22, with mother arriving at 13:24.

Two adult Common Gulls were present at first with one soon departing.  The distinctive remaining bird was seen several times as he came and went.  Not a good day for Common Gulls either.

An adult Moorhen made a brief appearance on the long wooden jetty.  Watching it, this bird was eating the more 'meatier' bits of the gulls droppings.  I had seen this behaviour a few years back, and at that time thought it was a 'one off'.  Perhaps this is more common than I thought.  It is not a really good habit, considering the possibility of 'Bird Flu' in the area.

Two pairs of Jackdaws were frequent visitors, but no sign of the new 'speckled' bird seen last week.  Most times when the Jackdaws arrive, the check the bowl of the pellet dispenser just in case.

As stated above, this was definitely not a very good visit.  Even my camera is getting bored!!!

As I publish this on Monday 10th November, the forecast for tomorrow is to be poor, so it looks like being a Wednesday visit this week

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Antrim Marina - Monday 27th October 2025...

Antrim Marina - Monday 27th October 2025

I arrived at Antrim Marina at the later time of 11am this morning.  It was a cloudy day, which at times broke for a little sunshine to pass through.  The wind was very light and the temperature gauge in my car read 12ºC.

Around 60 Black-headed Gulls were present which was the high for the day.  Numbers fluctuated throughout the visit, ranging from around 25 to 50 birds.  So far this winter, 23 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls have been recorded, but worryingly, there were no new returnees during today's visit.  With the month of October coming to an end, normally a couple of more gulls should have returned by now, especially -  2CTA .  All I can do, is to keep my fingers crossed.

Of the 23 colour-rings read so far this winter, 17 were read today, leaving me with 6 absentees.  One of these six absentees is -  2FJF , which was spotted in Scotland on the 18th October.  I thought it may have nipped over to Strathclyde Country Park to get an Indian takeaway, where they throw out the scrapes for the gulls.

My 13th sighting today, at 12:27, was that of -  2BRD .  This was the 3rd sighting of the gull this winter.  It arrived back on the 24th August and was also present the following week (31st August).   2BRD , is a winter visitor around Antrim Town, making irregular visits to the Marina.  It was caught and ringed here on the 1st February 2015, as an adult male.

Each spring prior to the onset of the new breeding season, it travels down to Lurgan Park Lake in County Armagh.  Where this gull breeds at, is still unknown.

Black-headed Gull  -   2BRD   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (27 Oct 2025)

(Ringed as an Adult Male, on the 1st February 2015, at Antrim Marina)

At 13:41, I spotted a 'Black-headed' Black-headed Gull.  If memory serves me correctly, I had a 'Black-headed' Black-headed Gull here last winter.  Could this be the same bird?  If so, it's appearance at this time of the year may suggest it is a foreign bird.  Most Black-headed Gulls loose their chocolate brown 'hoods' during the winter months. 

A  -  'Black-headed'  -  Black-headed Gull  -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (27 Oct 2025)

The Icelandic metal-rung Black-headed Gull -  543335 , walked right up to my car as soon as I got parked.  Knowing what it wanted, I threw a few bits of bread out which he caught in his beak. 

One thing that I especially noted whilst feeding the swans on the slipway.  The gulls are really eager now, trying to get a share of the bread.  Coming really close, they should be catchable from now onwards.  I might make an extra visit or two solely for ringing sessions rather than reading rings.  A recent email from Suzanne Belshaw, said, she had seen similar behaviour among the gulls at Lurgan Park Lake.  The birds were coming right up to her looking for feed.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Monday 27th October 2025

2FFA	2FJA	2CJT	2BRA	2AAN	2CSK	2FJT	2FKA	2FJX
2FIL	2CSR	2FJK	2BRD	2FIF	2ABN	2FJN	2FFT

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

2ACV	2FDK	2FFX	2FHV	2FJF	2FJV

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

Parking beside the concrete jetty, three adult Mute Swans were on the slipway.  A fourth adult swam in from the direction of Lough Neagh at 12:53.  Eventually coming ashore on the slipway, non of these swans were ringed.  No sign of the resident female and her six cygnets today.

Around 40 Mallards were present, with that total slowly decreasing over the visit.  By the time of my departure, around 15 remained.  As normal, most if not all legs were checked for rings.

4 adult Common Gulls were perched on the rail of the concrete jetty as I parked up.  These gulls came and went throughout my visit, but a check at 1:10, gave me a total of 7 adults.  One of these, was the small Scottish-rung female -  EY64036 .  This was my third sighting of her so far this winter - once in August and once in September.  Last week, I had a winter high of 7 adult Common Gulls, though the Scottish female was not among them.  This now means, I have at least 8 adults visiting the Marina.

Common Gull  -   EY64036   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (27 Oct 2025)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 20th June 2013, at Hunterston, North Ayrshire, Scotland)

The resident male Herring Gull was present throughout my visit.  At 1:10, as I was counting the Common Gulls, the juvenile Herring Gull arrived.  It landed on the archway where it's father was perched and began begging for food.  Dad was not interested and ignored the youngster. 

For most of my visit, two pairs of Jackdaws were coming and going.  Shortly before 2pm, a new Jackdaw appeared on it's own.  Unlike normal Jackdaws, this one was speckled.

A 'Speckled' Jackdaw  -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (27 Oct 2025)

A pair of Hooded Crows and a pair of Pied Wagtails made brief visits.

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