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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