You can't have it all and good Tern days are invariably dank and drizzly....
But watching Terns jink and jive as they catch insects in flight is magic (especially when you never quite know if you'll see them here from one year to the next!)
And before long, I realised there was company arriving!
Three more Common Terns......
Imagine my excitement when after another 30 minutes, it literally rained a new flock of newcomers!
I couldn't get them all in the frame but repeated counts revealed the new (much larger) group numbered 22 more Common Terns
Not enough room on this bit of prime Tern real estate!
And occasionally they would land and spread out on the main island.....
Occasionally flying in and out....
One Tern (probably the original one for the day) kept flying but we were now witnessing the amazing sight of 25 Terns on the deck.
All good things have to come to an end of course and something triggered (I don't think it was the Coots) their eventual departure after 90 minutes or so?
There they were (well, most of them) gone but not forgotten!!
A record count for the reserve - by a mile!!
