Saturday August 19 - Earlswood Lakes

 The recent influx of birds from the east came to an apparent stop at Morton Bagot on Friday. I headed there during the afternoon, once the rain had stopped, and discovered everything had gone. I was back to counting Green Sandpipers (five), Teal (20), and Snipe (one). Those low numbers do mean that there is a possibility that other waders were hiding from view, but I would be surprised.

One family which was very unlikely to feature at Morton Bagot was terns, but other localities are available. This morning I got the news I had been half-expecting, there was a Black Tern at Earlswood Lakes. A small local influx had involved birds at Upper Bittell and Marsh Lane amongst other places, but these were not local enough.

I arrived at Earlswood and saw the tern immediately. It appeared to be a fully moulted adult and was flying around Windmill Pool. Trying to photograph it in flight was entertaining and frustrating, but eventually it landed on a buoy which gave me a chance.

Black Tern

A pretty poor flight shot, but the best I could manage

By focussing on the tern I ignored most of the other birds present, but did see about 10 Swifts, a Sparrowhawk, two Little Egrets, the resident Wigeon, and a Common Sandpiper.

Common Sandpiper

Subsequent Whatsapp messages mentioned six Common Terns, a Mandarin, and a Hobby none of which I saw.

I really should come here more often.