Due to there having been a couple of reports of Black Tern at Hill Head today I decided to head there and try my luck. I arrived at Meon Shore at approximately 1830 to find a rather high tide that was on the rise. Due to the inter-tidal zone being pretty much submerged I concentrated my efforts between scanning the river and The Solent. It wasn't until 1940 that I spotted the small, dark image of a distant Black Tern dip feeding amongst a large mixed flock of Terns and Gulls a mile or so East of Titchfield Haven. Consequently, I jumped in the car and headed for Salterns Park car park to get a closer view.
Apart from the scores of Common Tern the highlights of my time at Meon Shore included a Water Rail, an Avocet in flight over North Scrape, c30 Swift over the North of the reserve and an adult Mediterranean Gull West offshore amongst several Black-headed Gull.
 Moulting adult Black Tern amongst Common Tern, Salterns Park - 1 Aug 09
 Moulting adult Black Tern amongst Common Tern, Salterns Park - 1 Aug 09
 Two moulting adult Black Tern amongst Common Tern, Salterns Park - 1 Aug 09
On my arrival at Salterns Park car park I found the mixed Tern and Gull flock, that included not just the one but three Black Tern, to be directly in front of me. I managed to take a few shots in the fading light of the birds at rest on a concrete outflow (?) between flights. Unfortunately the birds flew off when one of the nearby fisherman walked up to me to ask "Is there anything rare about?".
 The scene after the fisherman's enquiry!
Good birding,
Tony T BSc (Hons) Geosci (Open)
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