White-winged Black Tern @ Hyde Park

Well, every other London birder seemed to have seen the tern this week so why not join the list. Tubed it over to Hyde Park Corner at dawn and took a stroll around the Serpentine. Ring-necked Parakeets called loudly as they flew over and I estimated there were around 10-15 in the trees around the lake.

The Serpentine, Hyde Park


On the water, gulls including Black-headed, Great Black and Lesser Black-backed and Herring woke from their roost. Egyptian, Greylag and Canada Geese honked at joggers as they well jogged by on their early morning fitness regime. Cavalry horses marched along the Serpentine Road as the sun dispersed the early morning fog that lifted from the lake.

No sign of the tern yet but it had been seen up by the bridge and as I approached I saw a small tern skimming the water and then it was gone. Where was it? Below the bridge, was a line of posts and the white-winged black tern sat perched on the edge of one of the posts. Don’t bloody move I thought and I found a way up to the road level of the bridge and then had a great vantage point to look down on the bird.

Some of the pictures the bird kindly let me take.

White-winged Black Tern







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