Antrim Marina - Tuesday 25th August 2026...

Antrim Marina - Tuesday 25th August 2026

I arrived at the Marina at 11:20 today.  It was a cloudy day with a light breeze which got stronger during the course of my visit.  The temperature gauge in my car read 19ºC.  I departed around 3pm.  As I drove across the car park, I could see that the algae had thinned out and was no way as dense as last week.

Around 70 Black-headed Gulls were present, and numbers topped the 100 mark by 12:30.  With 13 colour-ringed Back-headed Gulls from my study recorded here since the beginning of August, no further returnees were recorded today.

Of the 13 so far recorded, the final bird today was -  2CSR .   2CSR  is a year round resident at the Marina, and was ringed as a second winter bird in December 2017, here at the Marina.

Black-headed Gull -   2CSR   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (25 Aug 2026)

(Ringed as an Unsexed 2nd Winter Bird, on the 24th December 2017, at Antrim Marina)

The number of juvenile Black-headed Gulls make up a quarter to a third of the gulls present, and a lot higher from the same period last year.  One juvenile that I have seen every week since I started this winter's weekly visits, is one I have now named 'Tufty' for obvious reasons.

Juvenile Black-headed Gull given the Name ' Tufty '

During last week's visit, a Black-headed Gull arrived bearing a black colour-ring -  2355 .  I thought this was a new sighting at the Marina until I returned home.  On checking my spreadsheet, I had seen it back on the 7th May 2026 during one of my random summer visits.  On that occasion, this was the first re-sighting of the gull since it was ringed as a chick in June 2025 at the Shotton Steelworks in Wales.  Seeing it again last Tuesday made me think, has it remained in the Antrim area since May.  Todays sighting of -  2355  at 12:20 appears to answer that question.

Black-headed Gull  -   2355   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (25 Aug 2026)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 14th June 2025, at Shotten Steelworks, Flintshire, Wales)

Despite much looking for further rings, I'm already concerned about the numbers so far.  Last year, a number of my colour-ringed gulls disappeared all of a sudden in mid-winter.  As mentioned before, I tried to link their disappearance to three major storms, but I ruled that out during some summer research.  I'm still baffled by those mid-winter losses.  A couple of years back, half of my colour-ringed gulls failed to return after the breeding season - the likely cause was 'bird flu' within the breeding colonies.

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Tuesday 25th August 2026

2FJA	2CSK	2FFT	2FHV	2FIF	2FIL
2FJT	2BRA	2FKA	2CJT	2ABN	2CSR

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

2AAN

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

Each time I arrive at the Marina, I always look for Mute Swans as I drive across the car park to my usual parking spot beside the small concrete jetty.  No swans were seen at all today.  Last week, one pair of Mute Swans arrived from upriver and came ashore onto the slipway.  Soon afterwards, I took a photo of them showing the extent of the algae on their plumage.  Suzanne Belshaw sent me an email with a link to the Belfast Telegraph Newspaper.  On the evening, of the same day of my visit, the Fire Brigade were called to the Marina because it was reported that two swans were stuck on the algae.  Debbie Doolittle who runs a wildlife rescue centre was also called out to the scene.  The pair of swans were removed and taken into care.  I'm assuming they were the swans that I had photographed earlier that day.  I know the algae sat like a green carpet, but I would really doubt that they could get stuck in it.  Swans are fairly powerful birds.

Around 50 Mallards were resting around the jetties, and numbers remained more or less the same throughout my visit.  Reporting on my first weekly visit for this winter, I made a comment that no Mallard chicks had been seen at the Marina this summer.  Danny, who volunteers for the Lough Neagh Rescue Team, said that he had not seen any Mallard chicks despite his regular visits.  On reading my blogpost, I received an email from Sandy McWilliams who suggested that Minks may well be taking eggs and chicks, and he had seen one upriver from the Marina carrying a dead Blackbird.

Today, I had my first Mallard duckling.  It arrived onto the slipway on it's own.  If it got to close to the other ducks, it got chased.  As can be seen looking at it's 'crop', it has been feeding well.

The Only Duckling Seen at Antrim Marina this Summer

The resident male Herring Gull and his youngster both walked up to my car as soon as I had parked.  Both readily take bread from my hand.  The mother was also present, though she kept her distance.  A second unrelated juvenile was on the concrete jetty.  A third juvenile arrived at 11:30, closely followed by a second year bird which I believe is last year's chick belonging to the resident pair.

A Common Gull was present throughout today's visit.  Easily recognizable,  I know it is the same bird present on each visit.  This bird lands on the roof of my car and runs across the roof for bits of bread.  I'm trying to coax this one into taking bread from my hand. 

Possibly the same adult Lesser Black-backed Gull made repeated visits.

3 adult Jackdaws were the only other species recorded today.

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