Elegant Tern

I was delighted to re-find this extremely rare Elegant Tern today. 

Whilst on a trip up to North Clare i found a quiet little pond in a place called Aughinish Island with lots of sandwich terns and a few waders to photograph. However, whilst i was photographing some sandwich terns flying overhead i noticed one had a long orange beak and I instantly knew what i was looking at. It was an Elegant Tern! This bird usually breeds on the Pacific coast of America and Mexico but a small breeding colony that has recently become established in Southern France due to individuals crossing the Atlantic seems the more likely source for what none the less is still a mega rare bird in Ireland. However an individual fresh in from America would have been a bit cooler! This bird was first found in Wexford a few weeks ago before being relocated a few kilometres away from where i found it, in a place called Inishroo, a few days later. It hadn't been seen for 17 days however so the majority of people believed it was gone. I guess it wasn't!

I got a few decent pics too that I'm over the moon with and overall I'm just delighted that i was able to see this extremely rare tern. Only the 8th Irish record and technically the first officially on Clare soil.