An American Black Tern had been present at Dungeness throughout the week and this afternoon we decided to make the trip. The news services had reported the birds continued presence this morning so we were quietly optimistic during the journey.
Before heading for the reserve we made a brief stop at Galloways and although we failed to locate the Wryneck we did bag a year tick when several Whinchats were seen among the gorse and on the fence lines.
The American Black Tern had been frequenting Burrowes Pit all week in the company of several Black terns. We began the search from Makepiece Hide and quickly located several of the Black Terns, mostly juveniles but there was a single moulting adult bird among them. Soon afterwards the American Black Tern was spotted. It spent most of its time flying up and down the far corner of the pit but did occasionally use the tern raft to rest up for brief periods.
Although it was quite tricky staying on the bird with the scope, it did allow me to pick out some of the differences between to two species. Dusky underwing and dusky smudge on the flanks being the most obvious
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| American Black Tern |
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| Black Tern |
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