Common Tern at Miranda (Sunday)

[RussCannings]

Hi folks,

Sorry for this being over a day-late. While surveying the high tide roost at Miranda on Sunday evening with Mike Ashbee and David Thomas, a tern caught my attention sitting on the shellbank with WFTs. It was the only bird in 'non-breeding' plumage and from a distance its mantle appeared a shade darker than the nearby WFTs. I put it in my scope just as it took off. After that we only saw the bird in flight as it tracked up and down the shellbank over 100m away/ Still, it was evident that the outer 4-5 primaries were mostly slate-gray-brown and appeared quite worn. The trailing edge of the secondaries were darkish and the outer rects were dark-webbed. There appeared to be a faint carpal bar but this certainly did not stand out. There were no trace of dark centers in the tertials/scaps etc., that might indicate a young WFT or indeed a juv Common. I would assume second-year WFTs would not show such extensive dark webbing in the tail or outer 5 primaries. A hard bird to age, especially given general variability in molt of terns, but I would guess its either a 'second boreal winter' or adult in pre-basic molt that hasn't quite got to the wings yet. The overall cast to the upperparts appeared greyer than the adjacent adult WFTs, and the characteristic Common Tern dark 'wedge' stood out on the underside of the outer wing when seen in flight. Sadly the bird did not ever land in view and at that distance even Mike would be struggling to get an identifiable shot. Hopefully it hangs around, and plunks itself down closer to observers.

Otherwise not much to report out there. 2 Pectoral Sandpipers were written up on the chalk board but all we could manage were 4 Sharpies in the Stilt Pools. Had my first Arctic Skua (Parasitic Jaeger) of the season--an adult that made a brief appearance near the shellbank.

Russ C
Cambridge, NZ