| Antrim Marina - Thursday 7th May 2026 |
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Today, I undertook my first random summer visit to Antrim Marina to record colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls which are year round residents to the site. Having finished my weekly winter visits at the end of March, I skip the month of April completely, as most gulls would be busy courting and building nests. The most likely breeding site for the gulls at the Marina, is the former 'Torpedo Platform' situated nearby on Lough Neagh.
Before I go into detail about today's sightings, I must give an update about events on the 'Platform'. During April, I had been following the events on the 'Platform' via a 'Live Feed' - provided by CarnyxWild via the Lough Neagh Partnership. Everything appeared to be ticking over nicely through to the 20th April and over the following days the Black-headed Gulls abandoned the platform. Possibly 100+ pairs of gulls had disappeared. Since then, the Common Terns have arrived back from Africa, and it now looks likely that they too are not going to nest on the 'Platform'. I had made a suggestion that this may happen via email correspondence. The presence of Black-headed Gulls gives the Terns added security when predators are about.
The cause of the abandonment is not clear. I informed the Lough Neagh Partnership about the situation, but they have yet to get back to me with their thoughts. Below are the video links for the 20th April 2026 and today's link 11th May 2026 :-
On my arrival at the Marina today, the first thing that I did, was to scope and film the platform from a distance. There was absolutely nothing on the 'Platform' that I could see that would deter gulls and terns from nesting. Even on the raised area behind the 'Live' camera, there would normally be a number of Cormorants present, but again - nothing. There is a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls on the raised area, but surely their presence is not the problem, though they can cause havoc amongst the nesting birds. The question now, is where a whole colony of breeding gulls has relocated too?
I had visions of them nesting on the rooftop of 'The Gateway Centre' at the Marina. Parking beside the 'Small Concrete Jetty', it soon became clear that no gulls were nesting on the roof. Arriving at 1pm, I made a three hour visit - recording five of the colour-ringed resident Black-headed Gulls. One other Black-headed Gull became the 'Star Bird' during the visit.
I noticed a second calendar year bird on the top rail on the concrete Jetty with a Black Darvic. Camera out, I captured the code - 2355 and tried to capture the details on the metal ring - bit it flew off towards the Lough. However, a short time later, it returned and I completed the metal number - EM5667 . On returning home, I searched for the owner and sent an email to Peter Coffey.
The next day, a reply came back from Peter. 2355 had been ringed as a chick, on the 14th June 2025, on ponds beside the Shotton Steelworks in Flintshire, Wales. This was a first re-sighting, occurring 10 months and 23 days since being ringed. The distance from Shotton to Antrim Marina, is 266 kms / 165 miles (NW).
Peter went on to say the breeding colony at Shotton was hit badly with 'Bird Flu' in 2023 and again in 2025. On each occasion, their 'Ringing Team' were split into two groups - one collecting dead gulls, the other to ring chicks. Despite the 2025 outbreak, a good number of chicks did fledge and one was even recorded on Rathlin Island, just off the north coast of Co. Antrim. My thanks goes to Peter for his prompt reply, adding the ringing details and other information about the colony.
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2nd Calendar Year Black-headed Gull - 2355 - Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim (07 May 2026)
(Ringed as a Chick, on the 14th June 2025, at Shotton Island, Flintshire, Wales)
I was not sure what to expect on reaching the Marina today. Just 23 Black-headed Gulls were present on my arrival, nearly half were second year non breeders. Over the course of my three hour visit, numbers never surpassed the 40 mark, though it was clear that some gulls were clearly coming and going.
The five colour-ringed resident Black-headed Gulls recorded today were :-
2CJT - Ringed as a 1st Winter Bird on the 4th December 2016 - now 9 years, 5 months and 3 days.
2CSK - Ringed as an Unsexed Adult on the 17th December 2017 - now 8 years, 4 months and 20 days.
2FFA - Ringed as an Unsexed Adult on the 23rd November 2020 - now 5 years, 5 months and 14 days.
2FIF - Ringed as an Unsexed Adult on the 29th November 2021 - now 4 years, 5 months and 8 days.
2FIL - Ringed as an Unsexed 2nd Winter Bird on the 31st October 2022 - now 3 years, 6 months and 6 days.
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Black-headed Gull - 2CJT - Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim (07 May 2026)
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Black-headed Gull - 2CSK - Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim (07 May 2026)
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Black-headed Gull - 2FFA - Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim (07 May 2026)
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Black-headed Gull - 2FIF - Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim (07 May 2026)
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Black-headed Gull - 2FIL - Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim (07 May 2026)
Other Birds at Antrim Marina
Three adult Mute Swans along with two youngsters from last year were present. The two youngsters are the same two that were present during my final weekly winter visits to the Marina at the end of March. The younger of the two, is a bird which arrived on it's own just after one of our severe storms, the older, belongs to the resident breeding pair and is the last of six from last summer. No sign of the breeding pair, so the may have a new nest further upriver. The female is ringed with a metal ring, and I may try to locate the nest on my next visit.
Mallard numbers hovered around the 20 mark, with most being males. No broods of ducklings around, but with the current situation around Lough Neagh, this comes as no surprise. No sign of 'Mayflies', an important food source for duck chicks.
A pair of Common Gulls were present throughout the visit, with a third adult arriving just before I departed. Keeping my fingers crossed for a colour-ringed Common Gull ringed as a chick on the Copeland Islands in 2013. This one has been recorded here in previous summers.
Two second year Herring Gulls made a brief visit, one of which, I'm fairly sure belongs to the resident pair. It's father also made a brief visit later on.
A pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls made several short visit, and a 2nd calendar year Lesser Black-backed rested on a lamppost for around 20 minutes.
One surprise - there appears to be no nesting Sand Martins. In the past, they have used the Swift holes provided close to the rooftop of they 'Gateway Centre'.
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