Common Tern

A graceful, elegant bird that breeds in the local area. Many people see them and say 'Black-headed Gull', or even worse 'Seagull'! Of course, these people are wrong in so many ways, as I have said before, there is no such bird as a seagull! A bird that will spend its' summer here and then fly south for the winter, either to west Africa or even as far as south of the equator.

Common Tern

This is the first year that a `tern raft` has been placed in the water at Maxey gravel pits, it is there for the Common Terns to breed on.

There is always next year!

The only time I have seen Common Terns near this raft is when they have been perching on the posts surrounding it, they have had a look, but don`t seem too impressed! I have not seen any sign of tern breeding on the site, there are still a couple of pairs about, but I have not yet seen any chicks. Hopefully the raft will remain and be in place for when the terns return next year after their long migration. We may then see a successful breeding year.

Common Tern

Digiscoped using Canon Powershot A640 and Kowa TSN-883 x30

The first few Common Terns have been arriving back at Ferry Meadows CP over the past couple of days.

This bird is smaller than a Black-headed Gull with silver/grey back and wings and pale grey underparts. The bill is orangey red with a dark tip and fairly short red legs. The juvenile is grey, white and black with a ginger back, a pale forehead and a pink or yellow bill with a dark tip which becomes progressively darker over the summer.

The Common Tern breeds inland and on shingle and sandy beaches. It also nests on man-made rafts that are anchored in lakes and occasionally nests on flat roofs. They feed in lakes, reservoirs and rivers. Their food is mainly fish, small herring, sprats and sand-eels and in fresh water they catch roach, perch and minnows, but they also eat insects, especially cockchafers and water beetle larvae.

After nesting some birds travel north before the whole population flies south to arrive at their winter sites in November or December which are south of the equator. First year birds remain in West Africa and in their second summer they travel north and arrive mid-way through the breeding season. The bird does not breed until it is 3 or 4 years old. The oldest ringed bird was 33 years old. There are thought to be around 13,000 pairs that breed in Britain.