Little Terns

I spent most of today at the Little Tern colony in Gronant, north Wales, with David Norman and Jason Atkinson. There was plenty of adult activity around the colony, which gave me chance to attempt some flight shots.

But of course that wasn't the reason we were there; we were there to looks for these:

For the last 30 years, David has obtained a Schedule 1 permit to ring and study the Little Tern chicks in the colony. Today we found and ringed 14 individuals. They often move out of the main colony soon after hatching and can be difficult to find; on our first pass through the dunes we found three individuals but on our second pass through several hours later we refound only one of them (along with a couple of new individuals that we had missed the first time round). Some are easier to find than others...

If I can't see you...

Younger chicks were often easier to find as they hadn't moved far from the nest; and most of the nests have been marked by the wardens. The right hand bird of this pair is <48 hrs old; the left hand bird is <24 hrs.

And finally — especially for Faab — here are some wing shots of Friday's Woodpigeons. The 2cy:

And the 3+cy: