Sunday, 18 May 2014

Common Terns and Sandwich Terns mating at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

After our last trip to Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, I resolved to visit about once a week to see the progress of the birds nesting and the chicks emerging. Well, the Black Headed gulls are still there, and making an awful lot of noise!

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I took a short video so you can get an idea of the racket they're making:


Some of them seem to have got a bit carried away with their nest building....
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The gulls are now sharing the islands with Terns, some of which are mating:
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Again, a short video:


This weekend I learned how to tell the difference between a Common Tern and a Sandwich Tern, both of which were present. Here's a Common Tern, which has smooth head feathers and an orange beak with a black tip:
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while at the top right of this picture (click for a larger version on Flickr) are Sandwich Terns, whose head feathers look like spiky hair and whose beaks are black with a yellow tip.
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Looking forward to seeing some chicks hatching soon!

Mike

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