Friday 18 August proved to be opening day of the best autumn passage of Black Terns in Britain for a good few years. In fact, after two blank autumns locally in 2020 and 2021, then just a single adult in September 2022, it was really nice to see a flock linger throughout the day, gradually increasing to a peak of 11 birds. Most were moulting adults, but among them were four juveniles – these were what I focused on with the camera.

As is often the case on 'Black Tern days', the light wasn't great, but it was interesting to see how an overcast sky could nonetheless throw up a variety of light conditions as both darker clouds and brighter patches passed by overhead. A selection of images below.

I hadn't been to Cromer in late summer for a couple of years, so went over for the afternoon to meet Rich Bonser and see how many Caspian Gulls we could tally up.

As I have written before, the 'Cromer Experience' has to be seen to be believed, even in this contemporary age where Caspian Gull is more expected visitor than desired scarcity in Britain. Despite this species' westward spread and increasing numbers, it is still slightly surreal seeing so many birds up closer on the beach here. True to form, one of the first gulls seen during my visit on 4 August was a juv Casp, and five more birds followed. Below is a series of photos taken during an enjoyable few hours.