CASPIAN TERN IN KERRY
On the evening of the 4 th August 2020, Gerard Murray, John Cusack and I were returning from an uneventful two days in Wexford. We camped at the east end of Tacumshin Lake but we couldn’t dig anything rare out of the hundreds of smalls on Tacumshin. The highlight was a twitched juvenile Wood Sandpiper at Ballyteige Burrow near Kilmore Quay. Reed Warblers, Ruff, a couple of showy Water Rails, Marsh Harrier and a nice count of 19 Mediterranean Gulls including a few crisp juveniles were the only other birds of note. I was fairly knackered after the few days and was looking forward to getting into my own bed when I got home. Shortly after 20:10, I got a notification on my phone from a Stephen King retweet. It was a tweet from Kerry birder Pat McDaid to say that he had just found a Caspian Tern near Ballinskelligs. My heart sank. I was due back into work the next morning and there was very little chance of getting my shift covered. Caspian Terns in Ireland just don’t seem to ever play ba