Little terns try a turn

Today I recorded 4 little terns resting on the beach around noon among the crested terns and silver gulls. It was three hours after the king tide, second highest tide of this year.

They really are little, they look slightly bigger than a swallow when they are sitting on the sand. Haven't noted seeing them here before.

Earlier in the week I saw a flock of around 12 fly by heading further up along the river.

I'd been keeping an eye out for them as they apparently did not turn up on their breeding beach at Towra this year. It was feared they went to private land that is not bird friendly as it allows four wheel driving and dogs running off lead. Will be interesting to see if they keep hanging around here.

The two images show the difference between breeding and non-breeding colours. The top image shows breeding colours, below non-breeding. When breeding the bill is yellow with a black tip versus all black when not breeding and the black mask behind the eye turns into a cap and extends from inner eye to the bill when breeding. You may also notice a more forked tail when in breeding plumage.