Arctic Skua (Stercorarius parasiticus)
An adult dark phase bird was watched from the South hide, to come from the direction of Brough, swoop over the Main Lake, do the same twice over the Reed-bed & then fly off over the ridge in the direction of Sancton on the early afternoon of 13th August 2006.
Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea)
More often seen in the spring than the autumn (due to easier identification?), they are classically usually seen flying straight through the reserve, especially in spring. Generally they are also associated with squally weather, arriving before a rain shower & departing pretty soon afterwards. The Main Lake being the usual venue. The only exception to this was in 2011, when 2 adults and a juvenile separately spent an exceptionally long time at the Main Lake during September. This spell included a Black tern as well
Numbers are usually low, with only a few annual records. This is a bird that requires luck to be seen on the reserve.
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Year
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April
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May
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July
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August
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September
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2002
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Single, Village Lake 5th
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2004
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One briefly Main lake 24th
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2005
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2 Village Lake on the 26th
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2006
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2 adults on the Reed-bed on the 1st, single on the 18th
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2007
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Briefly on the 4th
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2008
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1 on the 19th & 21st
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2 on the Main Lake after a rain storm on the 12th
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2009
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1 on the Reed-bed, afternoon of the 17th
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2 Main Lake on the evening of the 16th, one on the 17th
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2 on the Reed-bed on the evening of the 21st
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2010
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1 on the Main Lake 7th
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Main Lake on the 4th
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2011
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3 on the 5th, 1 on the 21st & 22nd
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Adult present on the Main Lake 9th to 14th, different adult on the 16th to 26th, joined by juvenile from 19th to 26th
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2012
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5 through on the 5th, single on the 7th
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