I was back in my local patch at Coonagh during the week to check up on the summering wildfowl and search for autumn migrants. Following a week of strong winds, starting southeasterly, then moving to southerly and eventually to westerly, there was a good chance of something interesting showing up. This turned out to be the case when a juvenile White-winged Black Tern was found there today.
This is the third record of the species for County Limerick, the previous ones being 1875 and 1990, and the first for Coonagh. The site is proving quite attractive to migrant Terns with Common, Arctic and Black Terns all recorded here on a number of occasions in the past few years.
