A year tick and lots of other goodies at Minsmere!

Brian and I met early and arrived at Minsmere by 8.00am: we were just about the only visitors! We walked round to the East Hide and spent half an hour scanning the various seabirds - Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls, Sandwich and Common Terns and Kittiwakes - but couldn't find yesterday's Roseate Tern. A move to the public platform was no more productive, although we did enjoy close views of a Whitethroat and juvenile Stonechat.

We carried on round to the West Hide where, after a bit of a wait, we managed to pick out a skulking Glossy Ibis! Bittern Hide was unproductive, but Island Mere gave us distant views of a Bittern in flight.

Back to the reserve centre for coffee and scones, before returning to the East Scrape, picking up a couple of Hobbies on the way. As before, I scanned the islands before finally locating a good candidate for Roseate Tern: black bill, slim frame, very pale compared to the nearby Commons. Even better, it had a ring on its left leg. I pointed the bird out to everyone in the hide and the consensus was Rosie (albeit with a shorter-than-usual tail. Later I showed my photos to three vols who identified it as the same bird as yesterday's individual. (I should add that I've had four e-mails about this tern from reputable birders: two say Common, two say Roseate! I would just say that the legs looked red rather than orange in life, as did the lower mandible. Apparently this individual has caused some controversy among Suffolk birders!)
A much-needed ice cream and then home!