Star Tern

Gull-billed Tern

29 May 2005
On the the low spring tide, the Gull-billed Tern could be easily overlooked or mistaken for a gull as it waddled along the tideline and occasionally on to the mud. It spent most of the time about midway between the Toll Bridge and the Railway Viaduct. With its black head and black legs it could be distinguished from a Black-headed Gull within a few metres of the tern. At first, the Gull-billed Tern was in the company of a Little Egret and it seemed to be pecking at minute food particles, but after a few minutes it caught a ragworm which tangled around its beak before swallowing it. On another occasion, the worm was taken to the water and rinsed before swallowing. It paused its quest for food to preen at least once. Later an Oystercatcher joined the tideline search as the tide fell to the low of one metre.

28 May 2005
The birders were out in search of the distinctive Gull-billed Tern with their scopes into a Force 6 Strong Breeze, later a Force 7 Gale. The tern was still present on the Adur estuary between the Toll Bridge and the Railway Viaduct until late in the morning when it flew off westwards towards Lancing.

The Gull-billed Tern is an annual vagrant to southern England. Its natural distribution is mostly a bird of southern Europe including coastal wetlands such as the Ebro Delta and Coto Donana (Spain) and a small population in France.