Great Birding Moments # 24 Caspian Terns

Caspian Tern

A few days ago we were invited to the home of friends at Meningie, about an hour’s drive from here. Meningie is on the southern shore of Lake Albert and only a few kilometres from the world famous wetland, the Coorong. We decided to take a leisurely three hour alternative route and do some birding along the way.

This area has many dairy farms bordering the lake system. Swampy areas in this part of South Australia often have small lakes, lagoons and channels and this is a great place to see some of our water birds.

At one point we took a slight detour to a spot called Long Point in the Coorong National Park. This area is a favourite with those who like to go fishing in the Coorong and there is also a small camping area. No facilities other than toilets are present.

I was delighted to get some reasonable photos of a group of Caspian Terns resting on the beach. The wind was very blustery and bitterly cold, usually so for a few weeks from summer. Using my telescope was next to useless because of the vibration caused by the wind.

I normally see only one or two Caspian Terns at a time so it was a delight to see such a large group altogether in one spot. There were probably about twenty in all. There were also plenty of Whiskered Terns, Australian Pelicans, Silver Gulls and Sharp Tailed Sandpipers present but none of these were close enough to photograph.

Caspian Tern