Common tern and white-winged black tern

07/04/09 Common tern, Sterna hirundo (prob sub sp. longipennis) and white-winged black tern, Chlidonias leucopterus, seen at Unahi, near Kaitaia

We were just back on land from our third annual and very successful Three Kings trip (trip report here). Some great birds with the bird of the trip being a white-capped noddy seen with red-billed gulls near Cape Maria van Diemen. Great fun, birds and fish as usual!

We called into the Unahi boat ramp just north of Kaitaia on the way south to see if the white-winged black tern previously reported by Kevin Mathews was still around. Just to prove to Sav I do know what a common tern looks like I spotted one on a small fishing boat moored just off the ramp. The bird was with white-fronted terns and red-billed gulls, and was in non-breeding plumage. Steve Wood managed to convince me everything would be alright and we both got into a small dinghy and poled our way towards the bird getting some nice shots…will be on our website in the next few days. Despite having far too many dollars worth of camera gear in the dinghy, Steve thought it would be a good idea to show off his prowess as a gondolier, common sense prevailed, or perhaps it was me yelling at him to sit down!

We then managed to spot the white-winged black-tern which had probably been roosting unseen on the boat. Having made it back to dry land with camera intact I couldn’t be persuaded to head back out again when the bird relanded on the boat. However, Steve head back out with Tim Barnard’s son Matt at the helm, and apparently got some good photos. Steveo, you’re irrepresible!
BRENT