Gull-billed Tern in front of Inner Marsh Farm hide.
3x Spotted Redshank in full summer plumage...stunning
1 of 2 Common Lizard
After visiting Exminster Marsh in Marsh twice in a day and missing the Gull-billed Tern twice, it was a sudden rush of adrenaline when I was closing down my laptop at work at saw a Birdguides printscreen of James Shergold saying GO GO GO as a Gull-billed Tern had appeared at Burton Mere Wetlands! Being only 20 minutes away, it would've been mad not to go!
I got there as soon as I could despite a spot of traffic and ran the mile from the car park to the IMF hide (which certainly proved to myself I'm not as fit as I once was!). I bumped into Scott as I got to the hide and he informed me it was asleep, so that was a bit of a relief knowing how impossible they can be to twitch! I got into the hide and it was sat there with jet black crest and bill tucked into the wings which projected well beyond the tail. Eventually it woke up and revealed it really chunky black bill (more impressive in the flesh than in photos!). It briefly flushed thanks to two squabbling Lapwings which allowed me to briefly see the long elegant wings. It looked to have some brown flecking in the wings suggesting a sub-adult, but can't be sure.
Three Spotted Redshanks on view at the same time made for a rather stunning distraction from the tern whilst it was sleeping.
On the walk back to the car park, I came across two Common Lizards too.
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