Another session this morning dominated by rain again. So frustrating when you work all week and hope the weekend will be fine. I spent a couple of hours seawatching again out of the rain before a brief walk at Bishopstone before, surprise surprise, the rain arrived heavily again. Birds noted included 49 Brent Geese, 3 Shelduck, 1 Oystercatcher, 11 Turnstone, c10 Black headed Gull, 2 Great black backed Gull, 1 Arctic Tern spent quite a while fishing offshore and occasionally came nearer where on one occasion, it landed on the beach. With a bit of stalking, I was able to enjoy some lovely views and managed a few shots. Also seen were 6 Sandwich Tern, 3 Great crested Grebe, 2 Red throated Diver, 5 Gannet, c50 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Jay, 35 Carrion Crow, 4 Skylark, 1 Goldcrest, 2 Firecrest, 56 Starling, 1 Song Thrush, 10 Blackbird, 8 House Sparrow, 2 Pied Wagtail, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Rock Pipit, 336 Chaffinch west, 10 Linnet and 1 Siskin.
Simply a question here Marc....Is this not an advanced juvenile/1st winter Common Tern?
ReplyDeletePete.
Hard to see in the photo but it's slightly smaller size, shorter bill and shorter legs all point to Arctic Tern. In fight the secondaries were all white creating a white triangle. Take care.
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