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Bradford Ornithological Group

Rarities and Occasional Visitors - Terns and Auks

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Sandwich Tern

Arctic Tern

Little Tern

Black Tern

Little Auk

Puffin

SANDWICH TERN Sterna sandivicensis		Scarce passage visitor
	1987	One flew west over Charlestown, Baildon, on 22nd July.
	1989	A bird was seen resting at Leeshaw Reservoir on 3rd May.
	1992	A bird spent all day fishing and avoiding the speed boats at Elland Gravel Pits on 22nd April
	1993	Our best year started with one at Knotford Nook on 5th and 6th April. The second was at Elland Gravel Pits and seen by many on 13th April. Finally a single reported from Fly Flatts Reservoir on 25th May.
	1998	A single bird flew west over Otley Gravel Pits on 24th April.
	1999	There was only one sighting during 1999, this being a single bird flying through at Thornton Moor Reservoir on 11th July.

	2005	A calling bird was seen in flight over Laycock on 9th April (PW). This is only the seventh record of the species, and the first since 1999.
Sandwich Tern, seen in Spain by Brian Vickers	2008	At Otley Wetland, one was present for about 30 minutes on 27th April (MD). The 10th Group record.
	2009	A sub-adult bird which flew past Thornton Moor on 23rd August was only the 11th Group record, but the third in five years
ARCTIC TERN Sterna paradisaea		Uncommon passage visitor
		Seen most years from 1989 to 2008. Click for pdf file. Most recent sightings:
	2004	An average year for the number of records, but involving many more birds than for some time. All the records were in May. On 1st singles were at Otley Wetland and Knotford Nook, while up to 29 were at Yeadon Tarn. The 9th had a further single at Knotford Nook , and up to two birds at Yeadon Tarn.
	2005	There were three records, probably involving that number of birds, a fairly typical showing. May is the expected month for spring passage of the species, and two birds were at Otley Wetland on 1st, and a single at Elland Gravel Pits on 7th and 8th.
	2007	The only two records are from the same day, 4th May, when two birds were at Otley Wetland, and one at Yeadon Tarn in the early evening, which replaced the Common Terns seen there earlier in the day.
	2008	A bird spent 30 minutes at Leeshaw Reservoir on 15th July.
	2009	As last year, the only record came from Leeshaw Reservoir, where two birds were present for a few hours on 7th May.
	2010	In contrast, a rather better year for this tern, and the most records since 2004. Singles were seen at Otley Wetland on 20th April, at Thornton Moor on 1st August and 15th September, and at Ogden Reservoir on the 13th, whilst two birds were present at Redcar Tarn on 3rd May.
LITTLE TERN Sterna albifrons		Scarce passage and summer visitor
	1989	A bird was watched hovering and diving for fish at Elland Gravel Pits on 13th July.
	1990	A single was seen at Knotford Nook on 26th September
	1993	One was present at Elland Gravel Pits on 14th May and a single was recorded at Fly Flatts Reservoir on 18th August.
	1995	Two were seen at Otley Gravel Pits on 15th June
	1997	A single bird was seen at Elland Gravel Pits on 18th July.
	2008	Last seen in the area in 1997, so one at Snaygill on 27th April was a particularly good find.
Little Tern, seen in Spain by Brian Vickers
BLACK TERN Chlidonias niger		Uncommon passage visitor
		Click for pdf file. Most recent sightings:
	2001	The spring passage coincided with that of the preceding birds, and both records were on 14th May, when a single bird was at Elland Gravel Pits, and two at Otley Gravel Pits. In autumn a good-sized party of seven juveniles was seen at Chelker Reservoir on 6th October, comfortably the latest date on which birds have been recorded in this area.
	2002	A bird was seen at Otley Gravel Pits on 3rd and 4th June.
	2004	A single at Otley Wetland on 12th September was the only record.
	2008	A bird at Chelker Reservoir on 6th April was the earliest on record. Another was seen at Otley Wetland on 6th May.
	2009	A slightly better than average year, with two (and possibly three) records, on consecutive days in May. On the 13th, one flew over Snaygill, and there was a later report of possibly the same bird at Chelker Reservoir. The following day one was seen at Leeshaw
	2010	Two birds passed Thornton Moor Reservoir on 13th September.
LITTLE AUK Alle alle		Vagrant
	1989	A bird was found wandering about on the lawn of Crag Top Farm, 950 feet (290 metres) up on White Crag Moor, on 27th October. It was captured and safely released at Bempton, the next day.
	1995	One was picked up in Baildon on 30th October. It died in the care of the RSPCA the next day.
PUFFIN Fratercula arctica		Vagrant
	1998	A Puffin was found alive outside Halifax Police Station on 30th May; it was taken into care, returned to the coast, and released the same day – apparently fit and well
	2002	A remarkable find was a bird which was well-seen, and described, as it flew up Wharfedale near Strid Woods on 24th April. The second Group record.

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