Elegant Tern

I took a trip down the Shannon Estuary to north Kerry yesterday with Tony Mee to search for the 'Orange-billed' Tern found the previous day by Davey Farrar.  We eventually caught up with the bird when we got news from Davey that he and a group English birders had found it roosting at the edge of Bunnaclugga Bay, just east of Letter Strand.  We got partial views of it at the roost but were subsequently treated to some spectacular action from it as it fished in the bay, dodging the attentions of an Arctic Skua at one stage.

Initial observations indicated that the bird most closely resembled Elegant Tern, ruling out other 'Orange-billed' Tern types such as Royal Tern and Lesser Crested Tern.  However the identification is complicated by the possibility of it being one of the hybrids produced by a long staying Elegant Tern at a Sandwich Tern colony in France, which I understand may be visually indistinguishable from Elegant Tern.

 

Elegant Tern ©Tom Tarpey

As can be seen from the photos above and below the bird has a pure white rump and tail coverts, which would appear to rule out Lesser Crested Tern in this case. 

Elegant Tern ©Tom Tarpey

The bird's bill was quite long and noticeably down curved, with the gonydeal angle located nearer the base of the bill. The bill appeared to be orange in colour at the base, gradually fading slightly to a yellower tone near the tip.  These features are visible to some extent in the photos below and also in the excellent shots taken by Ian Jones (see Kerry Birding Blog).

Elegant Tern ©Tom Tarpey

The bird looked to be about the size of a Sandwich Tern.  See photos above and below.  

Elegant Tern with Sandwich Tern ©Tom Tarpey

The bird also showed one other interesting feature; the soles of its feet and part of its hind legs were orange in colour.  See photos below and third from top above. I couldn't determine for sure if this feature is diagnostic, though I did find some images of Elegant Terns with this feature. It appears that juvenile Elegant Terns initially have orange legs and feet and that the colour eventually changes to black over time. 

 There has been five previous accepted records of Elegant Tern in Ireland, the first being in Co. Down in 1982.  If accepted this will be the sixth record for Ireland and the second for Co. Kerry.

Elegant Tern ©Tom Tarpey

Sandwich Terns

I paid a visit to north Kerry today in search of migrant waders.  My first stop was at Blackrock Strand. There was a strong westerly wind coming in off the sea making birdwatching quite difficult.  It didn't matter a lot as there was a complete absence of Dunlin and smaller waders.  From there I moved on to Carrahane hoping for some better variety.  I arrived about an hour before high tide however as it was a neap tide much of the sand in the bay remained uncovered. There was a large flock of Dunlin present along with three Curlew Sandpipers, an adult and two juveniles. Once again the wind was quite strong here so I kept the camera in the back pack.  A small flock of six Golden Plover on the machair looked like they were recent arrivals, the vanguard of the autumn passage.

I decided to move northwards towards Shannon Estuary in the afternoon in the hope of getting more sheltered birding, making Beal Strand my next stop.  This can be a good spot for small waders, terns, divers and even the occasional skua. I was a bit late for the high tide however there was a small flock of Dunlin feeding in the hollow around the stream outlet.  There were small numbers of Sandwich Terns hanging around with the gulls.

Adult winter Sandwich Terns ©Tom Tarpey

My next stop was Ballylongford Bay.  There was no sign of the Black Duck that had been frequenting the area earlier in the month.  I came across a pair of Whimbrel in very fresh looking plumage, however they seemed to be unduly nervous and quickly flew off. 

My final stop was at Tarbert Bay. The tide had receded quite a bit by the time I arrived so the birds were well scattered across the mud flats. This is usually a good spot for Mediterranean Gulls and sure enough I came across two birds close to the pier road.  There was also about half a dozen Little Egrets feeding close to the road.

Adult winter Mediterranean Gull ©Tom Tarpey

Little Egret ©Tom Tarpey