Sunday June 11th - Elegant Sufficiency

A couple of weeks where domestic duties have taken precedent, including yesterday (Saturday) when  an Elegant Tern, which had given birders the run around for a couple of days on Hayling Island, turned up in Pagham Harbour, viewable from Church Norton on Tern Island.

Having noted it was still reported approaching  dusk, I planned to go early, to get there pretty much at first light today (Sunday)  as I know Terns are active very early. I arrived at Church Norton at 4.40am, where I bagged one the last car park spaces in the small Church car park. Around 100 birders were there already !.

It had been drizzling on the drive down but was dry in the harbour although quite murky. I only waited about 20 minutes before the Elegant Tern was seen flying over the Tern Colony on the nearby Island, where the RSPB had done a good job providing fencing against predators.

There was a good colony of Gulls and Terns, Sandwich, Common and Little Terns and both Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls.

The Elegant Tern had several flying sorties over the island and briefly into the harbour where it also stopped on the mud for a preen, it was mostly dropping down into vegetation  cover where the Sandwich Tern nests were so was out of sight much of the time. This Tern is a similar size to Sandwich Terns with a shaggy black crest and very long Orange beak, so pretty distinctive and more usually found on the coast of the Americas.

I stayed around an hour and a half, when the  Elegant Tern seemed to fly more purposefully over the harbour wall towards the sea at the same time the mist descended. I headed back home. I can't even claim a record shot as the pictures below were distant in poor light.

Pagham  Harbour at first light looking at Tern Island

Gaggle of Birders at 5am

Elegant Tern - middle bird with Orange beak

Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Elegant Tern

Having a preen

The highlights at home overt he couple of weeks, a pair of Mallard were happily swimming around in the pond one morning but not seen since. a Hobby has been seen on 3 occasions and a very brief Turtle Dove flypast is my only encounter so far, but no further signs. A flock of 6 Grey Herons flying south was notable. Otherwise families of young birds dominate. Despite mixed and sometimes very wet weather there are family parties of both Blue and Great Tits, which is an improvement on last year and a pair of Bullfinch are very regularly found on the feeders..

Bullfinch