Common Gull - Blue 2CIP        An email from Jack Morris on the 10th April 2024 provided a very much welcomed sighting of one of my Common Gulls that was colour-ringed on Rathlin Island.  Jack spotted -  2CIP  earlier that day on the shore of Laggan Bay on the west coast of the Isle of Mull, Scotland.  This was a first re-sighting for this bird which was ringed as a chick on the 27th June 2022 at Rue Point, Rathlin.  Having submitted Jack's sighting to the BTO, the recovery gave an official distance as be ..read more

      Antrim Marina - Sunday 31st March 2024        Today saw me undertaking my final weekly visit to Antrim Marina for the 2023/2024 season, where I study a wintering population of Black-headed Gulls.  My wintering study at the Marina began in September 2013, but includes results from Adam McClure's former Northern Ireland Black-headed Gull Study, which began with the ringing of -  2AAA  on the 12th November 2012, at Antrim Marina. Having made my first visit on the 31st July 2023, over the next few weeks, I quickly rea ..read more

      Antrim Marina - Sunday 24th March 2024        Today, I was making my penultimate weekly visit to Antrim Marina.  I arrived later than normal, hoping gull numbers would be at their maximum from around lunchtime onwards.  Arriving at 11:51, it was a calm, sunny day, with the temperature gauge in my car reading 11°C. Around 40 Black-headed Gulls were mostly gathered around the small concrete jetty where I park my car.  I did not expect to see that many gulls today, and as things panned out, numbers never exceeded the 40 mark ..read more

      Antrim Marina - Monday 18th March 2024        Seeing as Sunday 17th March was St. Patrick's Day, I thought that it would be wiser not to visit Antrim Marina, as there might just be far too many people about.  With Monday the 18th being a bank holiday, we had the day off work and I decided this would be better suited to make my weekly visit.  Having been blocked from getting out of my back yard by a visiting car, I eventually arrived at the Marina at 11:44.  It was a calm, sunny day, with the temperature gauge in my car readi ..read more

      Antrim Marina - Sunday 10th March 2024        Today, I arrived at Antrim Marina at 10am, the weather being overcast, a temperature reading gave 9°C, and a fairly strong wind was blowing in from a north-easterly direction which made it feel a lot colder.  Parking in my usual spot beside the small concrete jetty, just 7 Black-headed Gulls were present. With 34 colour-ringed Black-headed Gulls to look out for, it quickly became clear, that ring reading today was going to be a long, slow process.  The first two rings read, were that ..read more

      Antrim Marina - Sunday 3rd March 2024        Today at Antrim Marina saw an initial 50/50 cloud cover, which quickly became 80/20 leaning towards a blue sky with plenty of sunshine.  The temperature gauge in my car read 6°C on arrival, increasing to 11°C shortly before my departure at 1:45pm. Arriving at the Marina at 10am, a total of just 21 Black-headed Gulls were present, most at the short concrete jetty where I parked my car.  None of these were ringed, but -  2FIA  was the first to arrive at 10:11.  ..read more

      Antrim Marina - Sunday 25th February 2024        It was approaching 10am when I arrived at Antrim Marina this morning.  It was calm and sunny, with the temperature gauge in my car reading 8°C.  As the morning wore on, the gauge read 11°C, but as an easterly breeze began to blow in, it felt quite chilly. On parking beside the small concrete jetty,  2AAB  was the first ring to be read at 10:00.  The gull was standing on top of the security fencing, so I got out of the car and hand fed the bird with a few b ..read more

      Antrim Marina - Sunday 18th February 2024        In my previous post, I wrote about the death of Black-headed Gull -  2FJJ .  I caught and ringed this gull as an unsexed 2nd Winter Bird, here at the Marina, on the 12th November 2023.  After being ringed, I recorded the bird regularly during my weekly visits to the Marina, including last week - Sunday 11th February 2023.  Sadly,  2FJJ  was reported dead the following day, and was reported to DAERA (Department of Agriculture, Environment and ..read more

      Antrim Marina - Sunday 11th February 2024        Before I begin this Sunday's account, I must make mention of an email received during the week from the Icelandic Bird Ringing Centre.  At last, the ringing details for a metal-rung Black-headed Gull, had arrived.  As I was told, the gull was likely to have been ringed during the summer of 2023, but details from the ringer had been requested.  The Icelandic metal-rung Black-headed Gull -  595818 , had been recorded on two occasions at Antrim Marina this winter ..read more

Before I begin on this weeks account for Antrim Marina, I must make mention of an email that I received this week.  Tirso Fernández from Galicia in Spain, was directed to contact me with ten Black-headed Gulls that he recorded at Antrim Marina, back on the 10th December 2023.  These sightings were made around 3:30pm.  All ten gulls had been recorded earlier that day during my weekly visit.  My thanks goes to Tirso for taking the effort to make sure I obtained these sightings, all of which were backed up with photographs.  I replied with full re-sighting histories for ..read more