Bridled Tern – Inner Farne, Farne Islands, Northumberland, 15th July 2013
This was a holiday that was a long time coming. Paul and I both missed the thrill of birding together and so he had pushed hard to get me to commit to going on a proper birding trip with him. And it was indeed that.
Given I was committed by our planned trip, Sod’s Law dictated that a Bridled Tern turned up on Inner Farne on Monday the 1st July.
Now, I had previous with this species. 25 years earlier, I had kidnapped Carol Carrington to take her to Cemlyn Lagoons to see the Bridled Tern that was there between the 1st and 23rd July. It was a lovely day out (for me anyway) but we dipped. Worse, Paul very definitely connected; allegedly he had fallen asleep in his car whilst there to twitch the bird, and woken up to find it was perched on his bonnet....!!!!!!!! I’d never yet managed to pull this one back on him.
They’d been plenty of subsequent records, but most were difficult to twitch one day birds and / or birds in difficult to get to places. I’d not managed to go for Stuart Green’s one day bird off Arbroath in July 2003 for instance, although a lot of Scottish-based birders had connected with.
Birding with Paul in Trinidad and Tobago was fantastic, but all the time we were there the ongoing presence of the Bridled Tern rankled (we had wi-fi access at our excellent Hacienda Jacana base). Having been regularly seen on Inner Farne between the 1st July and 4th July it was then also seen elsewhere too. It was seen at both Cresswell Pond and East Chevington in Northumberland on the 5th to 8th July inclusive and at Saltholme in Cleveland on the 6th July. Gggggggrrrrrrrr!!!!
To make things worse, on Friday the 5th July, Paul and I had a superb day birding with our guide, Newton George, on Little Tobago, seeing, yep, Bridled Tern on the crossings from Speyside to Little Tobago and from Little Tobago to Speyside.
Paul and I returned from Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday the 10th July.
By then, predictably, reports of the Bridled Tern had fizzled out, and I resumed ‘normal’ life.
Beyond work, amongst other things, the girls finished school for the summer that week. I can’t remember whether I had the girls that weekend but I do know the Bridled Tern was reported from Inner Farne again, on an intermittent basis, from Saturday the 13th July onwards.
Again, I attempted to dismiss this from my mind – I was otherwise engaged and it wasn’t really that reliable / predictable.
Maybe I had a vague game-plan too. On Monday the 15th July the girls and I were travelling south on the A1(T) to go to my fathers in Chesterfield, before then continuing on to St. Albans and then going to the Netherlands on the ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. Maybe I would see the Bridled Tern whilst crossing the North Sea........... . No, MUCH more seriously, maybe it would become a little bit more reliable again on Inner Farne and we could go there en route south..... .
However, reports from Inner Farne weren’t the source of any great optimism, and I became immersed in ‘life’, sorting out the aftermath of my holiday in Trinidad and Tobago and preparing for my holiday in the Netherlands as well as work, etc..
On Monday the 15th July, I loaded up the car with all the paraphernalia Ellen and Tessa and I would need for our holiday before we departed for my Dad’s. As ever, I hadn’t really committed to any ETA; I had no definite idea of the time of our departure and anything could happen en route.... .
Frustratingly, given my ‘vague game-plan’ there was no news from the Farnes that morning. Again Bridled Tern was going to elude me.
I concentrated on the long drive ahead, and making sure the girls were suitably entertained.
However....... .
Shortly after we had passed the junction for Seahouses the pager flickered into life with the joyous news that the Bridled Tern was back on Inner Farne.
I more or less did a handbrake turn on the A1(T). Instantaneously, both Ellen and Tessa (by then 14 and 13 respectively) simultaneously wailed, “OH NO!! WE’RE GOING TO SEE A BIRD!!!!!”
Anyway, whether or not they were quite as committed to the challenge as I was, I drove quickly to Seahouses, where I successfully parked up, and then assembled my gear (probably just bins, etc., as I probably wasn’t taking my ‘scope on holiday to the Netherlands) and both daughters, and marched down to the kiosk to arrange tickets for a boat to Inner Farne.
This all worked well, except I probably made the mistake of explaining to Ellen and Tessa that we were going to see a Bridled Tern, and then misguidedly mentioning that I had seen Bridled Tern in Trinidad and Tobago whilst birding there the previous week at this point. The girls were completely incredulous, “What, we are going to see a bird you saw last week????? Why???!!??”. They just didn’t get the whole British list thing, clearly.......... .
Anyway, we duly went across to Inner Farne, and here I was able to enjoy good views of the Bridled Tern as it was resting amongst the loafing terns on the rocks near the jetty, or occasionally flying around over the same area. Meanwhile, the girls were happy rock-pooling in the company of one of the female National Trust wardens nearby; I like to think now that coincidentally this was Bex Outram who later became the Assistant Reserve Manager on the Isle of May, but subsequent discussions with David Steel, who then also worked on the Farne Islands, and is now the Reserve Manager on the Isle of May suggest it wasn’t.
Anyway, the tern provided good views during our / my stay.
The upper-parts were a dark grey-brown, and the under-parts were a bright white, as was the ‘collar’ and the ‘wrap-around’ elongated forehead which reached back beyond the eye and joined above the bill. It had a black cap and eye-stripe, which was much darker than the upper-parts. It had short black legs and a pointed black bill.
It was about the 22nd for Britain and remained in Inner Farne until the 24th July (and was seen in Fife and Aberdeenshire subsequently).
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