Last minute

Nothing quite like leaving it until the last minute. But excitement is running high in the Rowpal residence. That's short for Rower & Paladian - I think it has a nice ring to it - Rowpal.

A quick trip down to Goolwa, and we realised that we had not one, but two new birds for Blipbigyear - one each. The Rower's contribution.

As you can tell, I am a long, long way away from the action.

Mine is a Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybridus). Until we got home I didn't realise it was a new Tern - but it's recognisable by it's sooty underbelly. Quite different to the other terns.

The Whiskered Tern is a small, tubby marsh tern with a slightly forked tail. The Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage has a black crown and white cheeks and sides of neck. The upperparts, upperwings and tail are medium grey, the underparts dark grey to slate grey and the undertail is white with the underwings mainly white. The eye is brown and the bill and legs are red. The sexes are similar. Non-breeding Whiskered Terns are similar to breeding adults except the underparts are white, the forehead is white and the dark crown is streaked white. The lores (area between bill and eyes) and ear coverts are black while the bill and legs are also blackish. Young birds have a pale grey back, rump and upper wings, heavily mottled medium-brownish grey, especially along leading edge of inner wing, and the tail is pale grey, edged black. The Whiskered Tern is also known as the Marsh Tern or Black-fronted Tern