WW Bl Terns & Common Terns in Canterbury

[andrewcrossland]

Hi folks, sorry for lateness.
Just reporting a breeding plumaged white-winged black tern on the Ashley river near the Okuku confluence on Monday, a common tern feeding and roosting with black-fronteds at the Ashburton rivermouth back on 5 Dec.

For folks visiting kaitorete spit tip/Otaunata at lake Ellesmere, there’s a large Caspian and white-fronted tern colony out on the far end point of the mudflats. Please give them a wide berth as besides the predatory kelp gulls nesting adjacent there’s also a group of magpies that are sitting around the outside and opportunistically seizing eggs and chicks. Cheers

[andrewcrossland]

A breeding plumaged WW Black Tern was at the Ashburton Rivermouth tonight, calling loudly and mobbing me for about half an hour. I didn't see a second one but it was sure acting the way you'd expect if nesting.

photos taken with cell phone. It came pretty close numerous times.

Screenshot 2023-12-29 231435.jpg (22.36 KiB) Viewed 673 times

[Oscar Thomas]

Awesome Andrew. Keen to hear if anyone sees it again. What’s access like? We went to the mouth of the Opihi River today instead and found good numbers of white-fronted terns nesting there.

[andrewcrossland]

Currently easy, river low and running clear. The bird was on the western side. It was 36oC in this part of Canerbury today and NW rain up in the mountains so don't be surprised if tomorrow the river is in flood as those waters make their way downstream. I emailed Ian Southey who I believe is looking for my breeding plumaged WW Bl tern from before Xmas at the Ashley-Okuku confluence, so he may be able to go have a look.

[Oscar Thomas]

No sign of the breeding plumage WWBT at Ashburton / Hakatere mouth yesterday evening or this morning. Interestingly, we did observe a bird in basic plumage instead. What an awesome spot for birding, plenty of banded dotterel, SIPO, stilts, terns, gulls, and shags as well as wrybills, turnstones, black-fronted dotterels and arctic skuas just offshore. We had 47 species total.

[AngryBird45]

Another WWBT was reported at Coopers Lagoon near Lake Ellesmere 10 days ago. It may be around the area now.