Hi Mike,
Ruth and I, with Alan Crawford, looked for the tern Friday afternoon from
5:30pm with no joy. I know of another birder that looked Thursday at around the
same time, also with no luck. It would appear that late morning to
mid-afternoon at the latest is definitely the best time to look.
Paul Dodd
Docklands, Victoria
Sent from my iPhone
On 09/10/2010, at 2:29 AM, "Mike Carter" <> wrote:
> The latest info I have received is that the bird was still there on Friday 7
> October at 2.15 p.m. when, as it had done several times during the morning,
> Steve Davidson saw it fly from the beach to feed offshore - just before other
> birders arrived. Haven't heard whether it returned but anyone wishing to see
> it should look sometime between 10.00 and 12.00. I've always found around
> 11.00 the best time to look for White-fronted Terns at Mornington when they
> pass through in September/October.
>
> In my previous post on this bird giving the reasons for my ID, I omitted to
> state the age of this individual. Danny Rogers, Jeff Davies and I agree that
> this bird is about 15 months, i.e. one and a bit years, old. It is in first
> summer/second winter plumage. The leg colour wasn't visible in the original
> photos, but in the field they appear very red as does the gape. The old
> blackish looking primaries are retained from juvenile plumage so are entitled
> to appear worn and weary! In this terminology the seasons referred to are the
> boreal ones as that is where the species breeds.
>
> Mike Carter
> 30 Canadian Bay Road
> Mount Eliza VIC 3930
> Tel (03) 9787 7136
>
>
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