A Royal Flush!

My plans for Tuesday evening were fairly sedate: water the allotment, a bit of reading (trying to finish Michael McCarthy's excellent The Moth Snowstorm) and hopefully finish the blog post I've been working on about how quiet June has been so far in birding terms.

Then the orange-billed Tern which had been reported at Church Norton earlier in the day and was presumed to be last year's Elegant Tern was re-identified as an American Royal Tern - the 2nd summer bird that's been in France and the Channel Islands in recent months - and in a matter of minutes I was heading south on the A29.

I got to Pagham in just over half an hour and was pleased to find just a dozen or so cars in the car park, and even more pleased to discover the bird still on show out on the Tern Island. It made a brief flight around the harbour before settling back on the island where it gave good views for all present, its huge carrot bill impossible to miss as it caught the evening sunlight. It was in all aspects a chunkier-looking bird than last year's Elegant, a clear half size larger than the Sarnies around it and with that stouter, straighter bill, pale back and punky black crew cut, spiked at the back and already beginning to recede into winter plumage at the front.

By the time I left at least sixty people had connected with the bird - it was good to run into Robin Stride among other familiar faces.

I even got home in time to finish my book! Now to finish that blog post about June being quiet...