One good tern deserves another

I finally caught up with an Arctic Tern this morning - a fly-through at 0835 at an otherwise pretty birdless Kilvington. It lingered briefly on the West Lake before flying across the East Lake, then gaining height and heading NNE.

After a site visit this afternoon, I then caught up with a Black Tern at Kingsmill Res; two had been reported earlier (and subsequently), but this bird was difficult in the murk, flashing its silvery wings, and I didn't hang around for the second.

Convinced that there would be Black Terns at either Girton or Collingham (there weren't), I spent an hour or half out this evening; there were loads of hirundines at Girton (I'm rubbish at estimating large numbers, but I reckon at least 500, mainly Swallows, on the A1133 Pit), along with quite a few Swifts, including some 'screamers', my first Lesser Whitethroat of the year. (at last), and 4 Common Terns on the Sailing Lake, one of which was colour-ringed, completed the tern trio for today.

Common Tern at Girton Pits

At Collingham, the Main Pit was super full, with the boundary ditch overflowing (this is either dry, as it is 99.9% of the time, or full to burst), spilling across the grass and flowing into the pit - as a result, the islands are all but gone. There were 3 Wheatears and at least 6 Yellow Wags on the grass that wasn't flooded. Nearby Mons Pool was also extremely full, with another Lesser Whitethroat rattling away nearby.

The Main Pit and boundary ditch at Collingham Pits