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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