I knew from my visit of four days ago that a Black Tern was frequenting the lagoon at Salgados and was pleased to see it towards the bridge end. A report emerging today that a White-winged Black Tern had also been seen at Salgados was even more interesting, as this was a good rarity and not on my Algarve List to date. I found the Black Tern straightaway from the viewing screen, flying and 'dipping' constantly across the lagoon. I re-checked the dark breast marking from the neck and the greyish/white rump. The wing markings were 'spot-on' for a juvenile Black Tern. The Black Tern continued its feeding for a good hour or so. I watched a large number of Sand Martins passing through, among them were odd Swallows, House Martins and a Pallid Swift. A Black-winged Kite hovered on the far side of the marsh and a flock of around twenty Glossy Ibis flew locally. I kept switching back to the Black Tern regularly and at one point, two terns were flying together. One of the terns was clearly whiter overall, particularly the undersides. There was no black mark behind the head and this bird had a bright white rump. This was a WhiskeredTern. It only stayed on the lagoon for around 15 minutes before flying North through the marsh and not being seen again. The Black Tern also appeared to have gone from view and I left Salgados at this time. Juvenile Whiskered Tern, an excellent record.
Alan Cripps
12/9/2019 08:24:39 pm
Hi Nigel, good to meet up with you and thanks for pointing the birds out. It did show again a few times after you left along with the black tern. Comments are closed.
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