[Birding-Aus] Mystery Tern at Lake Samsonvale (SE Qld)

[Tom Tarrant]

Hi All,

Was practising photographing terns this afternoon at Samsonvale Cemetery,
and I had just decided to try different camera settings when an unusual
'Crested' Tern flew past and I got several shots(... and of course after
getting incredibly sharp pictures before, these turned out to be less than
great)
I did see Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii) amongst many Gull-billed and
Caspian but I wonder if this bird could have been Lesser-crested (T.
bengalensis)? There are often a few of this species in Moreton Bay during
winter months but I believe this could possibly be the first record for Lake
Samsonvale. The bill certainly looks shorter but not as 'orange' as others
that I've seen.

I've created a folder on my Picasa account at
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/aviceda/MysteryTern# so would welcome your
thoughts.....

Tom

PS: Sadly, I will be traveling to the Gulf of Carpentaria tomorrow for work
so will probably not be able to answer emails for a while (conceivably a
fortnight?)
--
********************************
Tom Tarrant
Kobble Creek, Qld

http://kobble.aviceda.org

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/aviceda/
********************************
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[Mike Carter]

Looks like a Crested Tern to me although the upper wing is paler than most.
Bill looks yellow to me.

Mike Carter
30 Canadian Bay Road
Mount Eliza VIC 3930
Tel (03) 9787 7136

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Tarrant" <avi...@gmail.com>
To: "Birding-aus" <birdi...@vicnet.net.au>
Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2010 7:12 PM
> Was practising photographing terns this afternoon at Samsonvale Cemetery,
> and I had just decided to try different camera settings when an unusual
> 'Crested' Tern flew past and I got several shots(... and of course after
getting incredibly sharp pictures before, these turned out to be less than
great) I did see Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii) amongst many Gull-billed
and Caspian but I wonder if this bird could have been Lesser-crested (T.
> bengalensis)? There are often a few of this species in Moreton Bay during
> winter months but I believe this could possibly be the first record for
> Lake Samsonvale. The bill certainly looks shorter but not as 'orange' as
> others that I've seen.
> I've created a folder on my Picasa account at
> http://picasaweb.google.com.au/aviceda/MysteryTern# so would welcome your
> thoughts.....

> PS: Sadly, I will be traveling to the Gulf of Carpentaria tomorrow for
> work so will probably not be able to answer emails for a while
> (conceivably a fortnight?)

[Nikolas Haass]

I agree with Mike. I had some difficulties judging the colours, but the jizz of
the bird fits Crested rather than Lesser Crested Tern.

Cheers,

Nikolas

----------------
Nikolas Haass
nha...@yahoo.com
Sydney, NSW