Antrim Marina - Wednesday 24th December 2025...

Antrim Marina - Wednesday 24th December 2025

Nearing Antrim Marina I wondered what was in store following last week's weekly visit, which was a total disaster.  15 of the colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls which I have recorded this winter were absent out of a total of 24.  Arriving just before 11am, it was a fairly calm day, with plenty of sunshine in a 70/30 sky.  There was a light breeze, and the temperature gauge in my car read 9ºC, which is still pretty mild for December.  As I drove across the car park to my parking spot by the small concrete jetty, my heart sank, not a single bird could be seen around the slipway.

Not a Single Bird Around the Slipway on my Arrival  (24 Dec 2025)

15 to 20 Black-headed Gulls were lazily flying around and moments later they were all gone.  After a count of the Mute Swans and Mallards which were around the small Sandy Beach (read below), I settled into my car to wait on the return of the gulls.  Finally at 11:47, a small flock of gulls arrived which included 8 Black-headed Gulls, a juvenile Mediterranean Gull, 3 adult Common Gulls along with a juvenile.

From here on, the reading of colour-rings progressed at a steady rate as more Black-headed Gulls trickled in.  Numbers soon reached the 50 to 60 mark, and this remained constant until my departure at 2:30pm.  My 9th sighting at 12:10, was that of -  2CTA  for the second week running and the third overall since it's return to the Marina on the 25th November 2025.  This had been my last returnee until later today, when I had a surprise visit from a gull where it's location was known.

Black-headed Gull  -   2CTA   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (24 Dec 2025)

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

When in the car, I constantly scan the legs of the Black-headed Gulls especially looking for birds that are ringed with metal-rings only, as in most cases, they could be foreign gulls.  Colour-rings are often seen more easily.  Still sitting in my car, I spotted a Black-headed Gull with my 'bins', that was perched on top of a distant lamppost and it appeared to have a colour-ring.  Still sitting in my car, I grabbed my camera and gradually zoomed into the bird (see photo sequence below).  The gull was -  2ABN .

Can you Spot the Gull on the Distant Lamppost?  (24 Dec 2025)

Camera Zoomed Roughly Halfway to the Lamppost - See the Gull Now?  (24 Dec 2025)

 2ABN , belongs to Adam McClure's former Northern Ireland Black-headed Gull Study (2012 to 2018), with his initial birds being ringed here at the Marina.  As far as known at present,  2ABN  is the second oldest living gull from Adam's Study, next to -  2AAN  which was also ringed here (see 8th sighting today).   2ABN , is a winter visitor and it's exact breeding site is as yet unknown.  On two occasions, it has been spotted at Peatlands Park in County Armagh (35 kms / 21 miles (SW)), in March 2022 and May 2024.  I do not know of any breeding colonies in that area, though it could be nesting further in a south-westerly direction.

 2ABN , was ringed as an adult female here on the 23rd January 2013, and the duration since being ringed, is now 12 years, 11 months and 1 day.  The photo of -  2ABN , highlights the zooming power of my Nikon P1000 camera.

Black-headed Gull  -   2ABN   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (24 Dec 2025)

(Ringed as an Adult Female, on the 23rd January 2023, at Antrim Marina)

My 15th sighting of the day,  2FHV , came as a bit of a surprise.  This Black-headed Gull which is known to breed in Iceland, has been proven to use the Marina as a 'staging post'.  Each winter, it's return is recorded in the early autumn and then it leaves in October to an unknown destination.  The gull then returns to the Marina for a while in the spring before returning to Iceland for the summer.  In recent years, it has not been seen here during the months of November, December and January, therefore, today's sighting may suggest that it's wintering site is not too far away.  I caught and ringed this gull here as an unsexed adult on the 8th November 2021.  The duration since being ringed, is now 4 years, 1 month and 16 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FHV   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (24 Dec 2025)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 8th November 2021, at Antrim Marina)

My 16th and final ring sighting was made at 1:35pm, and this one came as a big surprise.  In recent years,  2FFN  has been spotted on a number of occasions around the Whiteabbey Beach area on Belfast Lough.  Seeing as I knew where this bird was, it was not entered onto my list of overdue returnees.

I caught and ringed -  2FFN  as an unsexed adult here at the Marina on the 14th December 2020, and the gull was not seen again that winter.  Finally,  2FFN  returned to the Marina on the 11th October 2021, which turned out to be the only sighting during the 2021/2022 winter.

On the 27th August 2022, I found -  2FFN  at Whiteabbey on Belfast Lough, along with a second sighting there on the 8th October 2022.  This gave me the idea, that it wintered at Whiteabbey passing by Antrim Marina from it's breeding site.  Drawing a line from Whiteabbey, through Antrim Marina, showed that the breeding site may be situated in the north-west, possibly as far as County Donegal.

Three further sightings were made at Whiteabbey by Suzanne Belshaw - these being on the 3rd February 2024, 28th January 2025 and more recently on the 29th August 2025.  This was a really nice sighting and all credit to the gull for making the effort to come and see me.  I fully expect that -  2FFN  will return to Whiteabbey pretty soon.  The duration since being ringed, is now 5 years and 10 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FFN   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (24 Dec 2025)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 14th December 2020, at Antrim Marina)

A returnee is a returnee, so -  2FFN  is the 25th gull to go onto this winters list.  Along with 9 absentees today, there was no sign of the metal-rung Icelandic Black-headed Gull -  543335 .  This is now the fourth week in a row that it has been absent which is very unusual.  Ringed in Iceland in July 2023, this is the third winter that it has been recorded here.

Overall, though nowhere near prefect, today's weekly visit to Antrim Marina kept me on my toes.  Just a pity that no other returnees were recorded.  The Latvian -  2AFD  has the best resighting history away from the Marina and is sorely missed at present.  Normally returning around the third week in October, I went looking for him at his favoured spot at Antrim's Castle Way car park on Christmas Day.  A huge disappointment there, as there was not a single gull to be seen. 

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Wednesday 24th December 2025

2FFA	2CJT	2CSK	2CSR	2FIL	2FFT	2FIF	2AAN
2CTA	2BRA	2FJT	2ABN	2FJA	2FKA	2FHV	2FFN

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

2ACV	2BRD	2FDK	2FFX	2FJF	2FJK	2FJN	2FJV	2FJX

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

With no birds at all around the slipway when I arrived today, I walked over to have a look at the small Sandy Beach.  Here I found 8 adult Mute Swans, a cygnet and just three Mallards.  It did not take long to identify the cygnet as belonging to the resident metal-rung female -  X4707 .  A short time later, I noticed that one of the other adults was the resident male.  At 11:20, a further 5 adults swam in from the direction of Lough Neagh, though they were reluctant to come ashore.  I spotted another cygnet swimming in from the Lough at 12:46.  I'm fairly sure that this slightly younger youngster as compared to the resident cygnet is the same bird recorded during my previous two visits.  A head count just after 1pm, gave me a winter's high total of 14 adults, plus 2 cygnets, which meant an adult slipped in unnoticed.  Due to a couple of wary birds remaining on the water, no all legs were checked for rings.

With just three Mallards present, numbers did not increase by much.  A quick count shortly before I departed, gave me a total of just 13 birds, by far the worst total this winter.  Many remained on the river, therefore, not all legs could be checked for rings.

With no gulls present on my arrival, at 11:47 when the first small batch of gulls arrived, as well as a small number of Black-headed Gulls, 3 adult Common Gulls and the rarer sighting of a juvenile Mediterranean Gull also arrived.  Earlier this winter, I recorded two juvenile 'Med' gulls, but the manner of this bird told me that it was a different one compared to the previous two.  Very wary, it quickly departed.

Juvenile/1st Winter Mediterranean Gull  -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (24 Dec 2025)

By 12:05, there seemed to be more Common Gulls around judging by the numerous calls.  A quick check found that 5 adults were now present.  Numbers kept on increasing after this much to my enjoyment, as I'm hoping for the return of a metal-rung Finnish bird ringed as a juvenile in August 1995.  Another count at 1:58pm, gave me a total of 9 adults and a juvenile.  9 adults, is a high for this winter, but no sign of the Finnish bird.  The small Scottish metal-rung bird -  EY64036  was spotted among the adults.  Ringed as a chick in June 2013 in North Ayrshire, she has returned every winter since first being spotted here in February 2014.  This is now my 6th sighting of her this winter since returning on the 31st August 2025.

Common Gull  -   EY64036   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (24 Dec 2025)

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

The resident male Herring Gull arrived at 12:35, and his youngster from this year's breeding season arrived at 2:02pm.  No sign of his mother today.

There was no sign of the adult Moorhen which has been roaming the jetties over recent weeks.  It might be lying low with stomach pains after constantly feeding on the gull droppings!!!

A pair of Hooded Crows made their usual brief visit, whilst a male Pied Wagtail and a single pair of Jackdaws made repeated visits.

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