A Royal Flush
On Tuesday the 16th of August 2016 I was in the middle of doing some summer homework when I got a beep on my phone. Seamus Feeney had just found an Orange-billed Tern sp. at Roonagh Lough, Co. Mayo". On hearing this news, I rang a few friends which this would have interested. Only 30 minutes later I got another beep on my phone, this time saying "MEGA ROYAL TERN at Roonagh Lough, Co. Mayo". What the hell was a Royal Tern doing in Mayo! Panic ensued; I rang as many birders as I could to get the news out quickly. It was too far to make it before nightfall from Dublin, so many set out to run for it the next morning, myself included. I got a lift to Balbriggan with a friend from Swords and stayed the night in Mark Stewart's apartment. We set off at 2:45 am with our aim to be there for first light, our judgement, however, was wrong. As we were 45 minutes away from Roonagh Lough, I got a text from Victor Caschera saying "Royal still on the Lough". We were d