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 ball either.

I somehow managed to get off work, while Gerard cancelled plans for the next day in preparation to start heading south-west. Unfortunately, John was unable to travel with us but would possibly be able to travel that afternoon if the bird was on show. Not long after I got work off, negative news came through on the Caspian Tern. I wasn’t one bit worried about this news as Terns can be mobile at the best of times. Plans were made with Gerard to head for dawn and spend the day searching for it. Thankfully, in the meantime, the bird had been pinned down and was seen to roost on the beach.

We headed off at 11 pm from Drogheda aiming to be at the roosting site on Inny Strand for 4/5 am. The trip down was uneventful and heavy rain started in the early hours. I felt a sinking feeling when I checked the tide times. High tide was at approximately 4 am…the Tern would be pushed off the beach. To make matters worse, heavy fog rolled in. This combined with the heavy rain made conditions tricky. We arrived just after 4 am and I set my alarm for 5 am. I managed some broken sleep in that hour. One other car was parked at the end of the cul de sac. Kerry birder Hubert Servignat had the same idea as us. As the sky gradually got brighter, we threw the rain gear on, got the scopes out and began scanning.

In 2016 I missed an American Royal Tern in Mayo because I arrived shortly after dawn by which time the bird had flown out to sea before it had even got fully bright. My hopes were already beginning to fade despite it still being pretty much dark. Common Gulls and Black-headed Gulls flew towards the sea and were roosting further down the estuary. A few Mediterranean Gulls did the same as did a handful of Sandwich Terns. One or two clusters of Common Gulls started to appear along the outflow but certainly no Caspian Tern with them. I was fearing that with the thick fog the Tern could sneak out undetected and be lost for good. Caspian Tern has an abysmal record of hanging around in Ireland with the last widely twitchable individuals in 1988. And out of the previous 11 records that was the only bird to hang around.

A few lads rang me asking what the story was with it, as it was getting bright, with many either en route or planning a trip. I had to break the news to them that it wasn’t looking good. At 6:33 am Gerard said that the flock of Common Gulls needs to be checked very regularly just in case… I swung my scope towards them and OH MYYYY! Caspian Tern bang in the middle of my scope. I roared over to Ger that I had it and he ran to my scope to get his first views. I then rang Hubert who had went to the mouth of the river to scan. He legged it back and managed to connect.

Caspian Tern on Inny Strand, Ballinskelligs, Co. Kerry. 12th for Ireland.

The bird was truly huge! It stuck out like a sore thumb despite the crap weather conditions. A Sandwich Tern stood nearby which was completely dwarfed by it. It was nice to see it flap showing the dark under primaries. After approximately 15 minutes of viewing, one by one the Common Gulls took off, with the Caspian Tern eventually following them. After a short run up the Tern was in the air. I scoped it in flight, flying straight towards me. It got so close I couldn’t follow it in the scope any more and changed to the bins to watch this beast fly straight past us. It was so close I could almost have thrown my coat over it. Over my shoulder, I could hear the clicking of Ger’s camera and knew he was getting super pics. I managed to follow the Tern as it pulled away from the Gulls and flew straight out to sea… was that going to be that?

Superstar Pat McDaid arrived shortly after it flew off. What an unreal find by Pat. This adds to his Red-necked Stint, Booted Warbler and many more top finds in south-west Kerry. Paul Bourdin and a few other birders arrived and spread out to search for it. At 7:30 (approx.) I picked up the Caspian Tern again, this time it was flying quite high up towards the estuary before banking off to the left. I was the only one to get this view. We all moved up closer for a better view of the area expecting it to be out on the mud but it wasn’t to be…

I picked up a European Storm Petrel over the mudflats which lingered for a few hours which was bonkers to see over the mud. One by one many other birders arrived but the hours ticked on with no further sign. Conor Foley, Paul Keogh, Paidi Cullinan, John N. Murphy, Dave Fox and a few others arrived and dipped. Another European Storm Petrel was picked up offshore as was a flock of approximately 1000 Common Scoter.

The Tern could not be relocated to the disappointment of many. Gerard and I left at around 13:30 exhausted but delighted that we had connected. That evening, news of a Caspian Tern in Pembrokeshire, Wales came through...surely not!!! Niall Keogh and Josh Jones discussed this bird with me and a comparison of the Welsh bird and Irish bird remarkably proved that they were the same bird! 350km in just over 10 hours. A mental relocation! We had wondered why the Tern never came back down the estuary, but now we know why...it had obviously flown straight over land and out the other side. Birds are amazing. This is now the third mega Tern that I have managed to see in County Kerry, following on from American Royal and Elegant Terns...Up the Kingdom!

Many thanks to Gerard Murray who done all the driving. An amazing twitch! 

Super pic of the Caspian Tern by Gerard Murray.