An early wake-up call soon saw me heading down to Church Norton in the moderate rain and chilly wind. Expectedly, there were no birders present which was ideal as my motivation was high in finding something semi-decent.
One of the reasons of coming down was to try and re-find the unreliable Roseate Tern seen yesterday; no sign of this for the few hours I was present, but mixed in with six Dunlin were two lovely Curlew Sandpipers. I watched them for a few minutes before they unexpectedly took off high to the north. I checked all the scrub along the Severals, but no rare Sylvias were present, so I checked a couple of sites to the north awaiting the news of the long-staying Whiskered Tern in Dorset to come through.
News of the Whiskered Tern didn't materialise until 9.30am, by which time I was at Ivy Lake and in prime position to get going down to Longham Lakes. Eventually I arrived and enjoyed some wonderful scope views of this stunning bird. This was my first adult Whiskered in the UK, having only seen a juvenile way back in 2010 in Cleveland after dipping a Sykes's Warbler.
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| Whiskered Tern |
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| Two Curlew Sandpipers (far right) |
