Antrim Marina - Wednesday 30th September 2026...

Antrim Marina - Wednesday 30th September 2026

Today, I arrived at Antrim Marina at 12:10pm and departed at 3:30pm.  It was a nice clear day with plenty of sunshine, tough a fairly strong wind was blowing in from the west.  The temperature gauge in my car was reading 19ºC.  Looking out to Lough Neagh, you could see the waves breaking and smaller waves were breaking onto the slipway.  There was no sign of the 'Algae' which has been a major problem here in recent weeks.

The View of the Slipway and River Showing no Sign of the Algae

Black-headed Gull  -   2ABN   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (30 Sep 2026)

(Ringed as an Adult Female, on the 23rd January 2013, at Antrim Marina)

(First Colour Ring Read Today and 2nd Oldest of the gulls ringed at the Marina - 13 years, 8 months and 7 days)

Continuing with my Black-headed Gull study, despite the improved conditions, gull numbers has remained on the low sign.  Around 40 Black-headed Gulls were present throughout my visit, though looking at the number of colour-ringed birds, there was a clear pattern of gulls coming and going. 

Since I resumed my winter study back at the start of August, only 13 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls from my study have been recorded so far.  No new returnees were recorded today and 10 of the 13 rings were read leaving me with three absentees.  The Icelandic - 2FHV was the fifth to be recorded, so he has not moved on as yet.

With so few birds of any sort around the Marina, this visit seemed to drag by, as there was so little to keep me busy and therefore, very little to report on.

I'm hoping that we have seen the last of the 'Algae' and the clearer conditions will help the number of gulls to increase. 

Colour Ringed Black-headed Gulls Recorded at Antrim Marina on Wednesday 30th September 2026

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

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

2AAN	2CSK	2FFT

Other Birds at Antrim Marina

Driving towards my usual parking spot, hurray, three Mute Swans.  Two were lying down on the slipway and I could not see their legs properly.  Once they got up, I spotted a metal ring.  Zooming in with my camera, the ring read -  X4707  - the female of the resident pair.  It was good to know that they are still here.  I have not seen them since the 4th August 2026.

The ring of Mute Swan  -   X4707   -  Antrim Marina, Antrim Town, Co. Antrim  (30 Sep 2026)

(Ringed as an Adult, on the 5th April 2024, at Bartins Bay, Lough Neagh, Co. Antrim)

Mallard numbers were low, with around 30 present throughout my visit.  Most if not all legs were checked for rings.  There has been no further sightings of the metal-rung female -  GJ31095  recorded by on the 5th September 2026.

No sign of the resident pair of Herring Gulls or this years chick.  A third calendar year bird arrived at 12:17 and a second calendar year bird at 2:05.  I still think that both belong to the resident pair.  A sub adult Lesser Black-backed Gull spent the whole of my visit lying down at the far end of the long wooden jetty.  No Common Gulls appeared today.

A pair of Jackdaws made repeated visits and the 'speckled' Jackdaw made a brief appearance.

Also today, I had another first.  Around 1:15, I spotted a small brown bird on the jetty.  Having took a few photos, I'm pretty sure it was a Dunlin, though I'm not great at identifying small waders.  Several passers-by stopped to look at it, I'm sure they wondered what it was.  I was surprised that it was so calm being closely approached.  It remained on the slipway for around an hour.  Looks like it stopped to have a short rest before moving on.

Dunlin - A First for Antrim Marina  (30 Sep 2026)

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