Antrim Marina - Tuesday 24th February 2026...

Antrim Marina - Tuesday 24th February 2026

A slightly earlier weekly visit to Antrim Marina this week.  I would prefer to get back to Sunday or Monday visits, but as mentioned, somebody needs to be home to watch over an ageing cat.  I arrived on the stroke of 11am, leaving at 2:45pm.  Weatherwise, it was cloudy with a light breeze.  The temperature gauge in my car read 12ºC.

Studying a wintering population of Black-headed Gulls on a weekly basis, I am about to enter the final month, having started at the beginning of August.  Some of the gulls are colour-ringed so that their movements can be monitored.  A total of 28 colour-ringed gulls from my study have been recorded this winter, with at least six having failed to return.

The 28th bird that I recorded was the Latvian breeding -  2AFD .  This gull normally returns in late October, but it finally appeared at the Marina on the 28th January 2026.  Over recent years, its visits to the Marina are quite rare, though it was often found at the car park at Castle Way in the centre of the town of Antrim.  This winter, I had checked the car park on a few occasions, but most times there were no gulls in sight.  Despite the late sighting this winter, I reckon that -  2AFD  did return around it's normal date.  My 10th and final sighting today at 2:23, happened to be my second sighting this winter of -  2AFD .

 2AFD , was ringed as an adult male in February 2014, and has been recorded on 8 occasions around the Latvian capital of Riga (2015, 2016, 2022 and 2023).  In July 2023, a surprise sighting came in from Cromer Beach in Norfolk, England, where it seems, that this gull is 'staging' in England before returning to Antrim for the winter.  With today's sighting,  2AFD  has now passed the 12 year mark since being ringed - 12 years, 0 months and 12 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2AFD   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (24 Feb 2026)

(Ringed as an Adult Male, on the 12th February 2014, at Antrim Marina)

Around 60 Black-headed Gulls were present on my arrival and those numbers remained more or less the same throughout my visit.  Again, judging by the ringed birds present, there must have been a good turnover of gulls coming and going.  A handful from time to time rested on the roof of the 'Gateway Centre' which was not useful.

As mentioned above, just 10 rings were read, which left me with 18 absentees.  One gull which landed on the Long Wooden Jetty had a really dirty ring.  I had to zoom right in with my camera to try and obtain the code which turned out to be -  2FJT .  

I always need to be sure, just in case the gull belonged to another project.  Polish ringing groups usually used Yellow & White Darvics on their Black-headed Gulls, but in recent years they have started using Blue Darvics.  Their colour-rings start with the letter 'T', whereas British colour-rings begin with the number '2'.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FJT   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (24 Feb 2026)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 10th December 2023, at Antrim Marina)

While I was at the Marina, Danny who is a volunteer for the Lough Neagh Rescue Team arrived.  He said that on Sunday, there was easily over 100 Black-headed Gulls present.  After weeks of poor visits where numbers have continuously been on the low side, am I missing something?  It is true that weekends see higher numbers of people visiting, and therefore, more feeds for the ducks.  There would be a higher number of parents with small children, no doubt trying to tire them out, as well as interacting with wildlife.  Perhaps the gulls set their watches to go off on Sundays.

Derek Polley was in contact with me reporting two Black-tailed Godwit sightings, which I then submitted to the BTO.  Derek is a volunteer for the RSPB and does most Thursdays at the Window on Wildlife Reserve in Belfast.  Derek went on to say that Black-headed Gulls has started to arrive in numbers as they nest on the nesting platforms.  At present, around 200 have arrived, and efforts are being made to reduce the numbers nesting on the platforms.  Extra sticks have been added on Platform One, whereas, a tarpaulin is covering Platform Two.  Ideally, the RSPB just want Terns to nest on these Platforms, but they not return until late March and early April, by which time the gulls have selected their patch to build nests.

Another point which Derek mentioned, was a complaint by the nearby Belfast City Airport.  They fear that there are far too many Black-headed Gulls nesting on the RSPB WoW Reserve.  You can understand their view, as no Black-headed Gulls nested in the area until the reserve was created.  At the same time, Black-headed Gulls also need a bit of help as overall numbers have dropped considerably in recent years mainly due to 'Bird Flu'.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Tuesday 24th February 2026

2FJA	2CJT	2AAN	2FIL	2FKA	2ABN	2CSR	2BRA	2FJT	2AFD

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

2ACV	2BRD	2CSK	2CTA	2FDL	2FDK	2FFA	2FFN	2FFT
2FFX	2FHV	2FIF	2FJF	2FJK	2FJN	2FJP	2FJV	2FJX

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

A large number of Mute Swans were noted as I drove over to my parking spot.  Many were feeding on a pile of oat flakes that someone had thrown down on a fairly clean part of the car park (good thinking - staying clear of droppings).  A count gave me a total of 14 adults and 1 cygnet.  I soon identified the resident pair (female ringed -  X4707 ) to which the cygnet belongs to.  At 11:40, a second cygnet arrived on it's own from upriver.  I soon realised that it was the younger cygnet which has been absent recently (so it was not the bird found dead upriver).  This youngster first appeared without parents just after a storm a couple of months back.  It has tamed down a good bit since it first appeared, as you can walk right up to it now.  A further two adults arrived from Lough Neagh at 11:56 taking the total to 16.  I'm sure that this a high or equal high for the winter, as I cannot mind of 17 or 18.  Most if not all legs were checked, but -  X4707  was the only ring among them.

Around 30 Mallards were present throughout the visit, and as usual most legs were checked.

One adult and one juvenile Common Gull were present on my arrival.  A count at 12:15, gave 4 adults, and none of these were ringed.  I'm still hoping for at least one further sighting of the metal-rung Scottish and Finnish birds before they leave for their breeding sites.

While at the Marina, I had noticed a few small flocks of Lesser Black-backed Gulls flying over indicating their return from southern Europe and north Africa, with one landing at the Marina at 11:24.  It stayed for around half and hour.

The resident male Herring Gull arrived at 11:39, and his chich from last summer appeared at 1:15pm.  It has been several weeks since his mother was last seen.

The adult Moorhen was spotted on the Low Wooden Jetty at 1:41, and as usual, it was eating the gull droppings.

Wow, two pairs of Jackdaws made repeated visits, as was the case of the male Pied Wagtail.  Likely to be the same pair of Hooded Crows made two visits, whilst 3 Rooks arrived together to have a drink of water on the slipway.

I noticed a Robin working its way through the bushes beside the 'Gateway Centre'.  If memory serves me right, this may well be a first for me here.

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Antrim Marina - Thursday 19th February 2026...

Antrim Marina - Thursday 19th February 2026

Another Thursday for this weekly visit to Antrim Marina.  I would preferably visit on a Sunday or Monday, but as I stated to one of my contacts, at home we have a cat which seems to have the feline version of senile dementia.  To have someone at home keeping an eye on 'Rusty' is a good option.

I arrived at the Marina just before 11am.  It was cloudy but dry, with a slight breeze and the temperature gauge in my car read 7ºC.  Parking at my usual spot beside the Small Concrete Jetty, I noticed that the adjoining decking has been shifted due to the high water levels.  The water is still covering the jetty, but the levels here have dropped slightly from my previous visit, as the Black-headed Gulls were able to stand in the water.  

Damaged Decking beside the Small Concrete Jetty, Antrim Marina  (19 Feb 2026)

Each winter from 2013, I have undertaken weekly visits to the Marina from the start of August until the end of March to study a wintering population of Black-headed Gulls.  Some of these have been marked with colour-coded rings (Darvics), so as their movements can be tracked.  Some of the gulls are residents and therefore breed in the area.  Others have been reported in several foreign countries during the summer breeding season, and then return to the Marina again for another winter.

When I first started the study the wintering population of Black-headed Gulls numbered in the hundreds, but these days numbers are well under one hundred.  It is clear that 'Bird Flu' is a major factor in the reduced numbers.  I often wonder about Wind Turbines on migration routes - is it possible that these are also killing gulls?

So far this winter, I have recorded a total of 28 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls belonging to my study, and all were ringed at the Marina.  At least six others have failed to return.  I had complained about the low numbers of gulls present during my recent visits, and my last visit was the worst of all with just 27 gulls present.  Having said that, on my departure, I noticed between 80 to 100 gulls on the flooded pools on the adjacent golf course.

Today, I fared slightly better, as numbers ranged from around 40 to 60 throughout the visit.  Out of the 28 colour-rings read this winter, only 12 of these were read today, leaving me with another large total of absentees - (16).  Looking at my Antrim Marina Spreadsheet, it seems as if many went absent around the same time.  Although it is normal for some to be absent for whatever reason, a few of the regulars are among those that have been absent for several weeks.  One thought I had, did this coincide with one of the major storms that Northern Ireland experienced this winter.  

With a wrist problem now sorted, I made an attempt to catch one or two gulls today.  Dropping bread among the swans, gulls came agonizingly close, but just out of reach.  I might take a landing net with me next time.

Whilst checking the Long Wooden Jetty for colour-rings, I spotted a 'Green Darvic'.  With my camera already in hand, I zoomed into the Black-headed Gull concerned, and with the ring-code starting with a ' J ', I knew I had a Norwegian bird.  On returning home, I made a check on my Main Ring Reading Spreadsheet, and -  JJX5  was not on it.

I then went onto the 'Live' Norwegian Ringing Database, and after submitting my sighting details, I was then able to view the birds history.   JJX5 , was ringed as an adult male, on the 25th July 2025, at Lake Mølledammen, Bryne - not far south from the city of Stavanger in the south-west of Norway.

My sighting was the first since being ringed.  The distance to Antrim Marina was given as 851 kms / 528 miles (WSW), and the duration since being ringed, was 6 months and 25 days.

Another good sighting record following on in recent weeks of a Polish colour-ringed Mediterranean Gull and a Swedish metal-rung Black-headed Gull.  They have certainly brightened up a few poor visits to the Marina of late.

Black-headed Gull  -   JJX5   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (19 Feb 2026)

(Ringed as an Adult Male, on the 25th July 2025, at Lake Mølledammen, Bryne, Norway)

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Thursday 19th February 2026

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

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

2ABN	2ACV	2AFD	2BRD	2CTA	2FDL	2FDK	2FFN
2FFT	2FFX	2FHV	2FJF	2FJK	2FJN	2FJP	2FJV

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

8 adult Mute Swans and a single cygnet were around the slipway on my arrival.  Within a couple of minutes, I established that two were the resident pair (female rung -  X4707 ), and the cygnet belongs to them (the only one of six still present).  I remember three of the six disappeared after one of those big storms.  A pair arrived from up-river at 11:19, taking me to 10 adults.  Three others slipped in un-noticed, as a count at 12:37, gave me 13 adults and 1 cygnet.   X4707 , was the only ringed bird among them.

23 Mallards on my arrival, soon went up to the 30'ish mark.  Numbers dropped off again slightly before I departed.  Most legs were checked for rings.

The juvenile Herring Gull belonging to the resident pair was present throughout my visit.  A second juvenile arrived at 12:51, quickly followed by a third at 12:57.  The resident juvenile was not too fond of the two arrivals and it did not take long to drive them away.  The resident male arrived at 1:29.  It has been a number of weeks now since the resident female appeared last.

The first adult Common Gull appeared at 11:44, and a high count for the day of 4 adults was made at 12:54.  A juvenile Common Gull made a brief appearance at 12:10.

The adult Moorhen was also present throughout the visit, and it is still eating the gull droppings.

Wow, a first - no Jackdaws.  When I first started coming here, I can remember at least 14 birds from week to week.  Has something happened to the Jackdaw population as well?

The pair of Hooded Crows made two brief visits, and the male Pied Wagtail made numerous visits.

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Antrim Marina - Wednesday 11th February 2026...

Antrim Marina - Wednesday 11th February 2026

Weekly visits to Antrim Marina have been pretty poor regarding birdlife over recent weeks and today had to be the worst of all.  I'm studying a wintering population of Black-headed Gulls, some of which are colour-ringed in order to track their movements.  So far this winter, 28 colour-ringed birds have been recorded altogether, and several others have failed to return.

Arriving at 11:30, I had planned to depart at 3pm, but eventually left 15 minutes later.  It was fairly wet during my visit with heavier showers at times.  The temperature gauge in my car read 8ºC.  An easterly breeze became stronger as the day progressed.

Just 10 Black-headed Gulls were counted on my arrival and the highest count was just 27.  At times, flocks of 30 to 40 gulls arrived, but they just flew around and moved on again.  Just 8 colour-rings were read altogether, leaving me with 20 absentees.  With the breeding season approaching, many of the gulls heads are now changing to their chocolate colour and some will soon depart towards their breeding sites.

This winter has been really frustrating with the low number of Black-headed Gulls, and other species come to that.  Surely there has to be some reason for this.  When I first started my study back in 2013, the place was coming down with birds.

Departing from the Marina, large pools of water on the adjacent golf course had attracted around 80 to 100 Black-headed Gulls, none of which were present as I arrived at the Marina.  As I was preparing to leave just after 3pm, a flock of 12 Black-headed Gulls arrived, with just a few landing at the Small Concrete Jetty.  A quick peek through my binoculars, revealed my 8th colour-ringed gull -  2FJX .

Black-headed Gull  -   2FJX   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (11 Feb 2026)

(Ringed as Juvenile/1st Winter Bird, on the 1st December 2024, at Antrim Marina)

Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Wednesday 11th February 2026

2CJT	2BRA	2CSR	2FKA	2FJA	2ABN	2AAN	2FJX

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

2ACV	2AFD	2BRD	2CSK	2CTA	2FDL	2FDK	2FFA	2FFN	2FFT
2FFX	2FHV	2FIF	2FIL	2FJF	2FJK	2FJN	2FJP	2FJT	2FJV

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

As with the Black-headed Gulls, this was also a poor day regarding other species of birds.  Just three adult Mute Swans were present on my arrival and a pair arrived from upriver at 11:40.  None of the swans were ringed.

By the time of my departure, Mallard numbers dropped to 12 birds from a total of 21 when I arrived.  I'm fairly sure that all legs were checked over the course of my visit, but still no rings on Mallards this winter.

The adult Moorhen was present throughout the visit.  After moving up and down the jetties eating the gulls droppings, it then swam over to the opposite side of the river where it foraged around debris.

Just a single adult Common Gull on my arrival.  At 2:14, a juvenile made a brief visit, staying for around 10 minutes.  A second adult arrived at 2:23.  None were ringed and I have only had a single sighting this winter of the metal-rung Finnish Common Gull that was ringed in August 1995.

The resident male Herring Gull arrived at 12:09, but there was no sign of his youngster from last summer.

Presumably, the same pair of Hooded Crows made two brief visits.  A pair of Jackdaws appeared just before my departure at 3:15.  A male Pied Wagtail made several visits.

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Antrim Marina - Wednesday 4th February 2026...

Antrim Marina - Wednesday 4th February 2026

Today, I stayed at home until light rainfall stopped, the weather maps showing a dry afternoon.  Arriving at 12:35, I could only stay till 3pm, and as things turned out, this was ample time.  On arrival, it was dry, calm, though heavy cloud made it look a trifle dark.  The temperature gauge in my car read 8°C.

Driving across to my normal parking spot, I could see that the water levels around the slipway were even higher since my previous weekly visit.  Apparently, Northern Ireland has had it's wettest January in 149 years according to the BBC News.  The river which flows past Antrim Marina, is called The Six Mile Water and flows into Lough Neagh, which is the UK's largest freshwater lake.  I took a photo later on showing the small Concrete Jetty which was submerged. (Note the gull on the roof of my car).

Whilst driving down the avenue that leads to the Marina, I noticed two very large pools of water on the Massereene Golf Course.  Between them, they attracted more Black-headed Gulls than I saw at the Marina today.

The Small Concrete Jetty Under Water  (04 Feb 2026)

At the Marina, around 40 Black-headed Gulls were present and that number remained more or less the same during my visit.  With 28 colour-ringed gulls to look for, this turned out to be yet another poor visit.  Only 10 rings were read, leaving me with a massive 18 absentees.  No new returnees were recorded either.

I have mentioned a juvenile Black-headed Gull which always lands on the roof of my car and quite happily takes bread from my hand.  As soon as I parked, I heard a thump on the roof, so I knew it was there.  Sometimes, it lands on the bonnet of the car looking at me as if to say feed me.  I'm getting over a sprained wrist, which has prevented me from trying to rings any gulls, as I could not put enough pressure on the ringing pliers.  Hopefully, I can get some ringed soon, and this friendly youngster would be a nice one to ring.  The photo below shows the juvenile looking at my finger which is pressed against the windscreen.

My Friendly Juvenile Black-headed Gull  -  (Why Not Come In and Look Out!!!)  (04 Feb 2026)

(  2FJA  is standing on the top of the fence)

While in the car, I scanned through the gulls on the slipway with my binoculars when I spotted an adult Mediterranean Gull that was colour-ringed.  Grabbing the camera, I managed to obtain a couple of photos before all of the gulls took to the air - a dog walker as usual was the culprit.  Looking at the photos, they were not great, but I had captured the code -  PKPA .

A short time later (13:13), I located the Med Gull again resting on the top rail on the Long Wooden Jetty.  This time, I managed to obtain better photos.  The ring-code did not ring any bells, but on returning home, I had been involved with this bird before.

I entered the code onto my Main Ring Reading Spreadsheet and a search delivered a result.  Back in July 2025, my ex-ringing trainer (John Clarke) sent me a photo of a Med Gull that he had taken on the Bann Estuary at Castlerock in County Londonderry.  The bird was a good distance from John, but on editing the photo I confirmed the code read -  PKPA , which I submitted to both our BTO and the 'Live' Polish Ringing Database.  A while later, the sighting was accepted, therefore I had access to the ringing details.

 PKPA , was ringed as a chick, on the 8th June 2022, at Lake Szczodrzykowo in Central Poland.  The distance to the Bann Estuary was given as 1,594 kms / 977 miles (WNW), and the duration at that time since being ringed, was 3 years, 1 month and 6 days.

I submitted today's sighting onto the Polish Database, and the results came back on the following day.  The distance to Antrim Marina was given as, 1,559 kms / 968 miles (WNW), and the duration is now 3 years, 7 months and 27 days since being ringed.

One other sighting of this gull was made in March 2023, when spotted in the Southampton area, in Hampshire, England.

Mediterranean Gull  -   PKPA   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (04 Feb 2026)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 8th June 2022, at Lake Szczodrzykowo Central Poland)

Mediterranean Gull  -   PKPA   -  Bann Estuary, Castlerock, Co. Londonderry  (14 Jul 2025)

(Photo Courtesy of John Clarke)

My 10th and final sighting at 1:18, was that of -  2CJT .  This gull is a year round resident at the Marina and it is rare for it not to be recorded from week to week.  It's absence during the previous two weeks did have me wondering though.  When I first spotted it on the Low Wooden Jetty, it had it's head tucked into it's back - has it returned from a journey?  Since being ringed,  2CJT  has been recorded on 317 occasions, all at the Marina bar one.  That was back in February 2021, when Gavin Baptie took a photo at Castle Semple Loch at Lochwinnock in Renfrewshire, Scotland.  It was back at the Marina by April 2021 and has never strayed since.

 2CJT , was ringed at the Marina as a juvenile/1st Winter Bird, on the 4th December 2016.  Today's sighting takes the duration since being ringed, to 9 years and 2 months.  Juvenile/1st Winter birds, 2nd Winter birds and 3rd Winter birds (early after the new year), are good ones to ring, as they are of known age.  The record for a Black-headed Gull, is 33 years, 2 months and 16 days.

Black-headed Gull  -   2CJT   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (04 Feb 2026)

(Ringed as a Juvenile/1st Winter Bird, on the 4th December 2016, at Antrim Marina)

Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Wednesday 4th February 2026

2FKA	2FFA	2FJA	2BRA	2AAN	2CSK	2FIL	2CSR	2FIF	2CJT

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

2ABN	2ACV	2AFD	2BRD	2CTA	2FDL	2FDK	2FFN	2FFT
2FFX	2FHV	2FJF	2FJK	2FJN	2FJP	2FJT	2FJV	2FJX

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

On my arrival, four separate sets of Mute Swans were noted.  Feeding on the grass just beyond the Low Wooden Jetty, were five adults along with two juveniles.  I decided to wait for them to walk back to the slipway, but that turned out to be a bad mistake.  I did not realise that they could find a way to the river by walking down the bank.  When I noticed they had gone, they were swimming upriver.  Any chance for rings had gone.

The second set of Mute Swans, were two adults and a single cygnet, which had just left the slipway and they too swam upriver.  At 1:10, I assumed the same birds returned to the slipway, which were the resident pair (female ringed -  X4707 ), and their remaining cygnet (the last of six).

A set of four adults were on the slipway, and the final set, was an adult, along with a single cygnet (neither were ringed) on the small Sandy Beach.  That cygnet did not seem to belong to the adult, but was far older than the cygnet belonging to the resident pair.

Around 30 Mallards were counted, with numbers dropping slightly before my departure.  Most legs were checked for rings.

The adult Moorhen was present throughout the visit, and as usual, ate the gull droppings.

The resident male Herring Gull and his youngster, were also present throughout the visit.  A second year Herring Gull arrived at 12:17, and I'm sure that this is the bird belonging to the resident pair from 2024.

Only a single adult Common Gull on my arrival and I had a high count of 3 adults at 2:24.  A juvenile that arrived at 12:57, only stayed for around 20 minutes.  An earlier high count of 15 adults might not be bettered during the remainder of the winter.  I have only had a single sighting of the 30 year old Finnish Common Gull, but I'm hoping for another sighting or two before it heads home.

The pair of Hooded Crows made a brief visit, and the usual pair of Jackdaws and the male Pied Wagtail made several visits.

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Antrim Marina - Wednesday 28th January 2026...

Antrim Marina - Wednesday 28th January 2026

I was not sure what to expect at Antrim Marina today following the latest named storm (Chandra) which passed through Northern Ireland yesterday.  On the BBC News, they reported flooding in Antrim Town.  Arriving at the Marina at 11:10, I had taken the gamble that the Automatic Number Plate Recognition camera would be working which allows me to take my car into the front car park.  Happy days, it was working and I made my was over to the small concrete jetty, which is my usual parking spot.  The water levels were so high, the jetty was submerged with just the railings showing. 

Studying a wintering population of Black-headed Gulls, some of these were colour-ringed at the Marina in order to follow their movements.  So far this winter, I had recorded a total of 27 colour-ringed gulls, with the last two returning to the Marina on the 30th December 2025.  These were -  2FJP  whose origin is unknown, and -  2FDL  which has been recorded in a breeding colony in Sweden.

On my arrival, around 30 Black-headed Gulls were present and numbers never surpassed that mark during the visit which I ended at 2pm through utter boredom.  On a number of occasions, less than 10 Black-headed Gulls were present.  The only colour-ringed gull that was present throughout, was -  2FKA  which I ringed here as a juvenile on the 1st December 2024 (now 1 year, 1 month and 27 days since being ringed).

Black-headed Gull  -   2FKA   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (28 Jan 2026)

(Ringed as a Juvenile/1st Winter Bird, on the 1st December 2024, at Antrim Marina)

I have not got a clue as to what is going on with the gulls, with only 8 colour-rings read from the 27 leaving me with another large number of absentees (19).  My ex-ringing trainer (back in the 80's) - Sandy McWilliams suggested in an email, the gulls may well be feeding on the water soaked farmland fields.  On top of this, some of my gulls have been absent for several weeks now which is unusual.

Just after 1pm, my attention was caught by the sound of a drone.  Spotting it high up in the sky, it had no effect on the gulls below.  I had a wee walk about looking for the owner, and spotted him sitting on a boulder close to the ANPR barrier.  I was curios to see what model was being flown, as I own a DJI Mavic Air 2.  I was just in time to watch the drone being landed beside us - a Mimi Air 3.  The owner 'Dermot' and myself had a good wee chat before my attention returned to the gulls.

With camera in hand, I zoomed into the gulls on the Long Wooden Jetty and my 'heart jumped' - the Latvian -  2AFD  had returned.  This is one of my special birds as it has a fairly good re-sighting history.  Normally, you can set your clock on this gull returning around the 3rd weekend in October each year, and I have made several comments over recent weeks about it's failure to show up.  I have checked it's favoured haunt in recent times - the Castle Way car park in the centre of Antrim Town.  With today's sighting,  2AFD  may have returned to Antrim area back in October.

 2AFD , belongs to Adam McClure's former Northern Ireland Black-headed Gull Study (2012 to 2018) and was ringed as an adult male at the Marina on the 12th February 2014.  The first re-sighting was made by me in my home town of Ballymena.  I spotted it on the 13th November 2014 at the Wakehurst Playing Fields, and two days later, it was back at the Marina.

Having spent the winter at Antrim, the next three sightings came in a space of seven days when he was spotted at the Getlini Eko Landfill Site, just to the east of the Latvian capital of Riga (April 2015).

Getlini Eko Landfill Site was also the scene of a further two sighting during April 2016.  The next sighting in Riga was in March 2022, when spotted in the Kengarags area on the western edge of the Capital (River and Parkland).

In 2023, an interesting series of three sightings occurred in a space of 12 days.  On the 30th June, German tourist and birder, Simon Pirlo, spotted -  2AFD  at Riga's Central Market where the fishmonger there throws out scrapes to the gulls.  On the following day (1st July), Simon spotted -  2AFD  again, 200m down the road at Riga's Central Station (I think it was unlikely it was trying to catch a train).  On the 11th July, a really unexpected sighting came in,  2AFD  had been spotted on the beach at Cromer situated on the coast of Norfolk, England.  Why had he gone so far south?  Could it be possible that -  2AFD  'stages' in England before returning to Antrim? 

I am absolutely delighted to see that this gull is still alive and well, even if this is the only sighting this winter.  My last sighting was made on the 19th January 2025, just over a year ago.  It has now been 11 years, 11 months and 6 days since being ringed and Riga is 1,911 kms / 1,187 miles (E) from Antrim Marina.

Black-headed Gull  -   2AFD   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (28 Jan 2026)

(Ringed as an Adult Male, on the 12th February 2014, at Antrim Marina)

There has been no further sightings of the Icelandic-rung Black-headed Gull -  543335 , since the 25th November 2025 - I'm sure it has perished.  Ringed in southern Iceland in July 2023, it first appeared at the Marina the following month.  It stayed for the whole winter in 2023/2024 and 2024/2025.  This winter, it returned on the 24th August 2025.  Once back, it was rarely absent during my weekly visits.

There has been no further sightings of the Finnish Black-headed Gull -  ST347.186 .  It looks likely that this gull was just passing through.

Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Wednesday 28th January 2026

2AAN	2FFA	2FJT	2BRA	2CSK	2FJA	2FKA	2CSR	2AFD

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

2ABN	2ACV	2BRD	2CJT	2CTA	2FDL	2FDK	2FFN	2FFT	2FFX
2FHV	2FIF	2FIL	2FJF	2FJK	2FJN	2FJP	2FJV	2FJX

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

Driving across the car park to my usual parking spot, I had to weave around a large number of Mute Swans.  A count revealed 14 adults and 1 cygnet.  2 of the adults are the resident pair and the cygnet belongs to them (the last of 6 youngsters).  The female is ringed -  X4707 .  There is no sign of the younger cygnet that appeared a few weeks back.  This youngster arrived on it's own and I'm now wondering if it was the swan that was found dead slightly upriver recently.

Another poor showing of Mallards today.  20 were present on my arrival and just 11 birds remained just before my departure.  All legs were checked for rings.

2 adult Common Gulls were present on my arrival and I had a high total of 5 adults at 12:24.  The highest total of adults recorded this winter, was 15 birds, which included two with metal rings (Scotland and Finland).  None of today's birds were ringed.

The juvenile Herring Gull belonging to the resident pair was present throughout my visit and it's father arrived at 1:10.

The pair of Hooded Crows made a brief appearance.  As usual, a pair of Jackdaws made repeated visits as did the male Pied Wagtail.

Not a good day for recording other species.

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Antrim Marina - Thursday 22nd January 2026...

Antrim Marina - Thursday 22nd January 2026

I was only two minutes away from Antrim Marina, when I decided to turn the car around and head back home to Ballymena.  Just prior to this, I had called into a filling station in Antrim to purchase two loaves and began to feel unwell.  Feeling a lot better, though not perfect this morning, I returned to Antrim Marina.  The way things panned out, I would have been better staying at home.

Arriving at 11am, by 2pm, I was so bored, this weeks weekly visit was cut short.  Studying a wintering population of Black-headed Gulls - where are they?  Around 30 gulls were present on my arrival, and numbers dropped slightly soon afterwards and never recovered.  So far this winter, I have recorded 27 colour-coded birds and several other gulls have failed to return.

I had to wait until 11:53 to record my first gull which was -  2FKA  which had been ringed here as a juvenile in the Autumn of 2024.  Today's total finished on a very disappointing 5 gulls, leaving me with 22 absentees today and no new returnees.  The 5th gull recorded at 12:46 was -  2AAN .

You know you're going to have a bad day, when the ever present resident -  2CJT  is also absent.  Low numbers were not only noted amongst the Black-headed Gulls, but with other species as well (read below).  The only bit of joy I had today, was at 12:30, when a pair of legs hit the roof of my car, followed with the sound of a hungry juvenile Black-headed Gull.  For a few weeks now, this youngster normally hits the roof on my arrival.  It is so tame, it takes bits of bread from my hand.  Little does it know, it is about to be caught and ringed.

In an email from Suzanne Belshaw, she had recently visited the lake at Lurgan Park in County Armagh.  Normally, high numbers of Black-headed Gulls can be found there, but on her visit, just six were seen.  These low numbers at Antrim and Lurgan makes one wonder what is going on!!!

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Thursday 22nd January 2026

2FKA	2FIF	2CSK	2BRA	2AAN

As I was about to depart from the Marina during last week's visit, a metal-rung Black-headed Gull caught my eye.  With the ring glinting in the bright sunshine, I could see that it was a taller ring than the standard BTO ring, so I knew this was a foreign bird.  Grabbing my camera, I set out to photograph the gull and zoomed into the ring to capture the digits.  On checking my photos, I could see that the gull was from Finland, and I had the digits - ' 347.186 '.  I was unable to capture the two preceding letters, but checking my Main Ring Reading Spreadsheet for other Finnish Black-headed Gulls recorded in the past, the letters were than likely to be ' ST '. 

I decided to go ahead and send my sighting to the Ringing Centre at the University of Helsinki, as -  ST347.186 .  I had hoped for the ringing details last Monday, but they came in on Tuesday afternoon, my sighting was accepted. 

 ST347.186 , was caught and ringed on the 14th July 2024, as an unsexed adult with the use of a trap.  The ringing site was on the south-west coast of Finland, at a site just south-west of the town of Pargas (Parainen in Finnish).  My sighting was the first for this gull, coming 1 year, 6 months and 1 day since being ringed.  The distance to Antrim Marina was given as, 1,774 kms / 1,102 miles (W).

Great to obtain a result for this bird.

Black-headed Gull  -  Finland   ST347.186   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (15 Jan 2026)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 14th July 2024, in Pargas, SW Finland)

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

As mentioned above, today was not good concerning other species, notably, Common Gulls and Mallards.

The only Common Gull recorded today, was a juvenile at 12:29, which was still present when I departed.  A high of 15 adult Common Gulls were recorded here a couple of weeks ago.

Mallards numbered around 20 birds throughout the visit.  A few years back, numbers pushed up to the 80 to 100 mark during most weekly visits.  The pollution of Lough Neagh (especially Algae) must be affecting the number of ducklings survival rate, with a much reduced number of insect life.  Gone are the large clouds of Mayflies.

8 adult Mute Swans and a single cygnet were present throughout today's visit.  Two of the swans are the resident pair (female ringed -  X4707 ), and the cygnet belonged to them - the only one of six remaining.

The juvenile Herring Gull belonging to the resident pair was also present throughout my visit, with it's father arriving at 12:44.

The adult Moorhen was also present throughout my visit.  With far less gulls present, it checked out all of the jetties and the car park looking for gull droppings which it eats.

As normal, a pair of Jackdaws made repeated visits.  The male Pied Wagtail was present throughout, and a pair of Hooded Crows made a very brief visit.

Not only was a lack of birds about, not many people passed through either.

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Antrim Marina - Thursday 15th January 2026...

Antrim Marina - Thursday 15th January 2026

This week's weekly visit to Antrim Marina was due to my car failing it's MoT Test.  The test itself was booked on Tuesday afternoon, and failed to a defective rear tyre.  Raging, I drove straight back to a local tyre company where I had the tyres checked last week, citing that I had an upcoming test.  After checking the tyres, I was informed that the passenger front was borderline and the other three were fine.  I decided to have a new tyre fitted and went into the MoT confident that the car would pass, and I could then go to the Marina on Wednesday.

At the tyre company, I came across the boss and told him that I failed over a tyre which was checked last week.  He was understandably angry that my tyres had not been checked properly.  The tyre at fault was damaged on the inside edge, and a replacement was fitted with a significant discount.  I returned home, went online to book a retest and was lucky to get a spot at 16:55 on Wednesday.  This time, the car passed.

Arriving at 11:53 on Thursday, I had planned to depart around 3pm.  It was another calm day with plenty of sunshine and slightly chilly.  The temperature gauge in my car read 6ºC.

Around 50 Black-headed Gulls were present when I arrived, but numbers never exceeded the 60 mark.  With 27 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls recorded so far this winter, once again, no further returnees appeared.

Of the 27 gulls, just 14 colour-rings were read today, leaving me with 13 absentees.  The high numbers of absentees are concerning and back at home, on checking my Antrim Marina Spreadsheet, several have been missing for several weeks now.  I need to check back, to look for that storm that hit Northern Ireland with near 100mph winds, to see if this coincides with the absence of those gulls.

Of the gulls that have yet to return, I have just about given up hope on seeing them again.  I have recently mentioned about the Latvian -  2AFD , but I have now written off the Estonian -  2FDJ .   2FDJ , was special, as it was my long distance record holder, having been spotted just 44kms away from the Russian border - (2,060 kms / 1,280 miles (E)).  The gull never returned last winter either, hence writing it off.

Among the 14 colour-rings read today, was my second sighting of the Swedish -  2FDL , which appeared on the 30th December 2025, and it was pleasing to record -  2CTA , another recent returnee.

Black-headed Gull  -   2FDL   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (15 Jan 2026)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Adult, on the 18th November 2019, at Antrim Marina)

Black-headed Gull  -   2CTA   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (15 Jan 2026)

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

I was actually starting to pack away my gear at 3:04pm, when I noticed a tall metal ring shining brightly in the sun on a Black-headed Gull perched on the top rail of the Small Concrete Jetty in front of the car.  Grabbing my camera, I knew this was a new bird and was foreign gull.  Having taken a number of photos of the gull and zooming into the ring, I could see that it was from Finland.  I managed to capture the six digits, but failed to capture the two letters the would precede the numbers.

On returning home, I checked other Finnish Black-headed Gulls on my Main Ring Reading Spreadsheet, and all began with the letters ST, with the highest number reading -  ST304.210.  I therefore decided to submit my gull to the Ringing Centre at the University of Helsinki, as -  ST347.186  with a statement saying that I was unable to capture the two letters. 

I held back from publishing this post, as I had hoped for a reply on Monday, but I did not get one.  The ringing details will be added in my next post.

Black-headed Gull  -  Finland   ST347.186   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (15 Jan 2026)

(Waiting for the Ringing Details)

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Thursday 15th January 2025

2FJA	2FKA	2CJT	2FJT	2FDL	2FFA	2AAN
2CSK	2ABN	2FIL	2FJX	2CSR	2BRA	2CTA

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

2ACV	2BRD	2FDK	2FFN	2FFT	2FFX	2FHV
2FIF	2FJF	2FJK	2FJN	2FJP	2FJV

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

After my initial count of the birds present on my arrival, only two others were added.

The first was the adult Moorhen at 1:21.  Spotted on the Long Wooden Jetty, it was again seen to be eating the gull droppings.

At 1:37, the resident male Herring Gull arrived, and his youngster from last summer was present throughout today's visit.

5 adult Common Gulls and a single juvenile on arrival could not be bettered.  I had the same number during each count and none of these were ringed.

10 adult Mute Swans and a single cygnet could not be bettered either.  The resident pair were among the 10 adults and the parents of the cygnet.  The resident pair, which the female is ringed -  X4707 , went into a brief courtship display.  A Council worker stopped by with me to say a dead swan had recently been seen just upriver.  I took a walk to have a look, but could not see it.  

Back at home, I checked the Online Influenza Map belonging to DAERA, and found the swan had been collected on the 16th January 2026, and tests came back as Negative for 'Bird Flu'.  The bird was found further upriver from the directions that I was given by the Council Worker.  The Online Map can be viewed (here).

A count of around 30 Mallards on my arrival, saw a similar total when I departed.

The usual pair of Jackdaws made repeated visits, especially to check the tray of the pellet dispenser.  A single Hooded Crow and the male Pied Wagtail made a brief visit.

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