It Terned Out Nice!

Having discovered that Snappy was down my neck of the woods, I immediately made a plan to go out on my next day off, banking on his good weather fortune would outweigh my not so good weather fortune! I was right to make a plan, as it was beautifully sunny (at least until lunchtime) but tempered by a bit of a hooley which made keeping the big lens pointed in the right direction a tad awkward!

I decided on Portland and Weymouth hoping for a tern-fest, with breeding Little, Sandwich and Common all a possibility.

Arriving at Chesil, I was greeted by the car park by a Pied Wagtail

And a Meadow Pipit

I hiked around the edge of the lagoon.... been a long time since I've been there with the tide this far in, not a single wader in sight... to the edge of the fenced off breeding area, and scouring the skies spied my first Little Tern

And some more... disguising themselves as the cresting waves

The opposite side of the lagoon opens out into Portland Harbour

Where it appeared most of the Terns were fishing

After an hour (I even scaled Chesil Bank to see if there was anything closer.... all that did was remind me how unfit I've become... "blowing out me ***" I believe is the common vernacular) I decided to head round to the harbour side, and see if the proximity was better.

The tide had steadily been dropping and as I got about halfway along the lagoon, I spotted a Ringed Plover on the newly exposed shore

And then, out of nowhere, 2 Little Terns were cavorting a short distance away

Watching them battle the wind was fascinating, with it pushing them away from me, but them trying to stay still to judge their strikes

Amazing how big their wings look!

I thought this was it, as it circled away to the shingle

But then...

He came a bit closer

Then allowed the wind to carry him back across the lagoon... uncropped

Nearly missed totally, as he plunged!

He emerged, and then decided enough was enough, and headed off towards the fenced off area.

Mission accomplished (basically 550 pictures of varying quality of Little Terns) I decided to head round to Lodmore for the Common/Arctic/ Sandwich Terns. Right outside the cafe, I think a Herring Gull, but it all looks a bit soft/genteel?

And an Oystercatcher strutting its stuff

And right by the car park, a squabble of boisterous juvenile Starlings

I'll do a separate post for the Lodmore leg, as I took even more pictures, and I think my last post was a bit unwieldy!!

Stay Safe All