Adult Roseate Tern, Arnold’s Marsh, Cley

We were pretty quick off the mark yesterday evening when the call came through about a couple of adult Roseate Tern on Arnold’s Marsh, Cley. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the birds had disappeared and no one else, other than the finders, had seen them either. Oh well! – you win some and you… Anyway, we were on ‘high alert’ this morning in case they were relocated – which they were, at around 10.00. Off we went again but this time, even from East Bank, we could tell by the concentration on the faces of the small assembled crowd, that the birds were still present. Unfortunately, Arnold’s Marsh is never particularly good viewing in the mornings – the birds usually being distant and you are looking into the sun. Any how, there they were, giving reasonable views for fifteen minutes, before they decided to get airborne and disappear across the shingle ridge and out to sea.

A couple more shots, showing the key features: all dark bill, bright red legs, narrow outer primary wedges, pale mantle and long tail-streamers (alas no pinkish tones to the underparts were discernible) – taken into the sun with plenty of heat-haze for good measure: