Hi, just letting you know that there was a Roseate Tern on the Noosa sandbanks this afternoon. It’s about 10 years since I have seen a Roseate on the Sunshine Coast, not that I often get the time to scrutinise flocks as leisurely as I did today. Bob Inglis and I saw it, and I was delighted that it was a new bird for Bob. Between us we took a squillion photos of it.
I picked up the Roseate in a small flock of Crested, Common and Little Terns by a vaguely rosy flush on the breast. Then I saw that the tail feathers extended beyond the primaries. The legs were a bit shorter than Commons. Then I saw that the moult indicated a southern hemisphere bird, and it all fell into place.
Funny how a mob of terns can all look so similar when you arrive, but by the time you have been examining them for over an hour, they all look different from each other. Even within species.
(Greg, have you got that kayak going yet?)
Cheers,
Jill
