There was no positive reports from Fishlake Meadows of the Whiskered Tern, so I decided to head from Sidlesham to Titchfield Haven. Pulling up at the sea wall car park it was still quiet, the tide was out, but rising and a few people were on the beach. Common and Sandwich Terns flew from the sea into Duck bay, while others made the journey out to sea to catch fish for the several juvenile birds that were still on the reserve.
Common Terns
Quite a sizeable fish.
Sandwich Tern
In the reeds alongside the road there were Reed Warblers moving about and a couple of Sedge Warblers that showed well.
I walked along the path between the reserve and the road. More Warblers flitted from the bushes into the reeds, more Reed Warblers a Whitethroat and a Willow Warbler were seen and this very smart male Linnet.
Walking to the far end of the chalets there was a few Chiffchaffs calling, but very little else. The beach was now getting busy so there was very little present.
With the rising tide there was a good sized tern roost gathering on the beach by the Sailing Club. The time of year is good for rare terns to "turn" up, the weather to provided good conditions as well and so it was I settled in to scan and watch the tern roost.
The roost consisted of mainly Common Terns, adults and juvenile birds, with Sandwich Terns, again, adult and immature also present. Of the gulls there were Black-headed Gulls of all ages and the same for Mediterranean Gulls.
The roost was very jumpy any noise out of the ordinary would put them up, but they would quickly settle back down again, there was also a few birds fishing off shore and these would move back and forward from the roost and sea.
It was a case of scanning through the roost looking for something different, despite the scanning it was the a call that alerted us to possibly the tern we were hoping for. The call was distinctively different from those of the Common and Sandwich Terns, sounding like "chivvick" and standing out from the others. Two white looking terns flew into join the roost, a pair of Roseate Terns. Photography was always going to be difficult, a combination of light and distance not helping.
The
roseate tern is similar in appearance to common and Arctic terns, but with
shorter wings and two extremely long tail feathers during the breeding season.
In summer plumage, it is a strikingly pale bird, with a black cap, whitish-grey
back and wings and white underparts that are tinged pink - in a flock of greyer
Arctic and common terns, roseate terns appear to glow white!
On the Roseate Tern only the outer 2-4 primaries are darker than the rest, which forms a dark leading edge.
This gives a narrow dark edge on the wing of the Roseate.
The Common Tern has a much wider wedge, which becomes more evident in summer.
The wings of the Roseate are also shorter and the bird appears white in flight.
On the ground the larger bill becomes more evident, with a pinkish red blush at the base. Early in spring the bill is completely black.
Of the two Roseates, one was ringed. The Roseate Tern is the UK and Europe's rarest breeding sea bird. In the UK there is a colony on the RSPB Coquet Island off the coast of Northumberland. This year unfortunately the colony has been impacted by avian flu.
The Roseate Tern’s name comes from the rosy bloom on the
white underparts in breeding plumage. Because the tips of these breast and
belly feathers are white, the suffusion of pink can be hard to see in bright
sunshine. It’s often readily apparent on overcast days.
The ringed bird.
With the rising tide the roost was pushed closer to us and we were able to edge closer so the photographs were a little better.
The first Roseate Tern I saw was back in the late eighties, on my first ever visit to Titchfield Haven from Essex. I don't remember much about it. I have seen a few since, the last one being in 2017 in Northumberland. These two today though were the best views I have had and it was good to be able to get some photographs.
I had been watching the beach roost for about 3 hours now and I was hungry and thirsty so decided to leave and grab something from the car. The tide was also pushing the roost further up the beach and the public were also getting closer to the birds which would push them away.
After a drink and something to eat I headed into the reserve and the Meon Shore Hide. The water level on the scrape was down with some mud visible. Close in there was a Lapwing, there is always one here.
A Common Sandpiper then appeared on the mud giving great views.
The Common Sandpiper was then replaced by a juvenile Little Ringed Plover.
A Water Rail scurried past and managed to be behind a reed stem when the camera focused which was very frustrating, it then completely disappeared. The Avocets were present in good numbers, mostly at the back of the scrape, but one or two would come closer and that would start some scuffles, this individual flying in to push one that was minding its own business under the water!
Common Terns were also present, with most of the posts taken up by an adult or juvenile.
Juveniles trying to muscle in on an adult on the post were not given much consideration
It was a hot sunny afternoon and nothing much else was going on so I decided to leave. As I walked to the car I was taken by this roosting Black-tailed Godwit in Duck Bay
It was really pleasing to finally get some good views of Roseate Terns and some partially acceptable photographs
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