Lesser Crested Tern Sterna bengalensis
One record in June 1993. Prior to the Lincolnshire sighting the bird had also visited Beacon Lane Ponds at Kilnsea, E Yorks, between June 15th and 20th 1993. It flew south from Spurn Point on the evening of June 18th suggesting it might also have visited Lincolnshire. One astute observer had a look at the shoreline at North Cotes on the evening of June 19th without success. The next day, June 20th, and after a report the bird had departed south from Beacon Ponds at Spurn again around mid-day, the same observer decided to visit Rimac at Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe NNR. He located the Lesser Crested Tern with two Sandwich Terns, T. sandvicensis, some way to the south of the mouth of Saltfleet Haven. Closer observation showed that it was clearly paired with a Sandwich Tern colour-ringed on the left leg, BTO-ringed on the right leg and was the same bird that had been with at Beacon Ponds, and apparently the same Sandwich Tern it had been with on the Farne Islands for the two previous years. It was an adult female which had visited a Sandwich Tern colony on the Farne Islands, Northumberland every year from 1984 to 1997 and the colour ringed Sandwich Tern she was seen with in 1993 was the same bird she had been paired with for the previous 2 years on the Farnes.
This famous individual was affectionately christened ‘Elsie’ by the birding fraternity. She turned up every year during 1983-1997 in the Sandwich Tern colony on the Farne Islands. She was first noted brooding an egg in 1985 and produced single hybrid young in 1989, 1992, 1996 and 1997. To complicate matters, one of the hybrid young bred with a Sandwich Tern in 1994 also fledging a chick (RBBP reports, www.rbbp.org.uk). ‘Elsie’s’ long stay perhaps encouraged observers to take this species almost for granted as an annual visitor but in fact the last new arrival was in 1998 and the last British record was in 2005.
Although this is still the only county record of this species, of interest was a tern which flew out of the River Steeping and then went north at Gibraltar Point on June 30th 1989. This was accepted as a "large orange-billed tern" only. The female Lesser Crested Tern was present in the Farnes colony between May 7th and July 1st that year, so this record presumably involved a different bird wandering the North Sea (BBRC report for 1992 in British Birds 85(10), p531).
| Site | First date | Last date | Count | Notes |
| Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe NNR | 20/06/1993 | - | 1 | Adult female |
Finder’s report: Lesser Crested Tern at Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe NNR, June 20th, 1993, first county record.
by G. P. Catley
Note: this account is taken from the original Rarities Committee submission, most of which had been published in an LBC newsletter at the time. The RC noted in the 1993 report that the Farnes bird was very mobile in 1993, appearing in Borders, Northumberland, Humberside, and Lincolnshire. In each locality, apart from Borders, she was noted as being paired with a colour-ringed Sandwich Tern, ringed on the Farnes in 1986.
Circumstances
Having already made the trip to Beacon Ponds, Kilnsea on June 16th to have an overdue further look at ‘Elsie’, the Farne Islands Lesser Crested Tern, I was musing on why she would choose to be there rather than the more appropriate and more select Lincolnshire shoreline, when a phone call on the evening of 18th alerted me to the fact that it had flown off south at 8pm. that night, presumably into Lincs! Work and other issues prevented any visit to the coast until late evening on 19th when we tried North Cotes where, despite the presence of 30+ Sandwich Terns there was no sign of Elsie. No wonder – I later learned that she was back at Kilnsea, flying in from the south at 17.30 hr, no doubt having spent the whole of the day in Lincs! Had we missed our best chance of getting Lesser Crested Tern on the county list? Sunday 18th was “get some brake discs on the car, or else, day” so the morning passed and anyway, Birdline reported Elsie at Beacon Ponds all morning, so nothing was lost, and the pressure was off. Departing for the coast at 14.00 hr. after a leisurely lunch, in the knowledge that Elsie had flown out to sea at 12.05 hr, ‘but was expected to return shortly’, there was little urgency or enthusiasm in the walk out to the sea at Rimac, except on the behalf of the junior members of the party! Having reached Saltfleet Haven I located a flock of Kittiwakes and about nine Sandwich Terns settled on the beach, but all the terns looked very black about the bills despite some close scrutiny. Having negotiated the sticky bed of the old Haven channel, the kids made a dash for the sea while I gave more scrutiny to the Sarnies and managed to drop onto a Puffin which flew along the tide edge twice for good measure. As the kids threatened to attempt a North sea crossing a quick glance behind me revealed three terns just landing on the beach a long way south. Through the ‘scope I was having difficulty working out how big they were but there was no doubt as one turned its head that it had an orangey coloured bill! A double take – could they all be Commons and I had got the size wrong? The other two had black bills for certain and the third definitely had an orange bill! It had to be the Lesser Crested and with a quick yell of “I’ve got it”, I set off at a brisk jog, trailing tripod and ‘scope across the beach leaving the family to the mercy of the incoming tide (not really, I showed them the way back first after getting Julia to confirm I had not gone colour blind through the ‘scope). I then worked my way south into a better position for the light and eventually gained superb views of the bird on the deck and in three short flights as it moved with the incoming tide. I looked in vain for any other birders, but no one appeared so I took a few record shots with the camera and then settled down to enjoy it. It was clearly mated to a male colour-ringed Sandwich Tern, pale green/bright green left, BTO metal right, the same bird it was with at Beacon Ponds and apparently the same bird it has been with for the last two years on the Farnes (J. McLaughlin pers comm). The pair mated several times, a new breeding record for Lincolnshire as well! After watching the bird for an hour, the rising tide pushed them all further north onto a higher sand bar, so I made a quick jog to the care and the nearest phone, where I put the word out.
It is always a great thrill to find a county first, even if this was slightly tempered by the expectation of its arrival, and finding it gave me as much enjoyment as any of the others as far as I can remember. The following day, John Harriman and Wayne Gillat went down to Rimac to look for it and failed but had a summer-plumaged White-winged Black Tern on the beach at the Haven mouth! How many other rare terns are we missing by not having any regular coverage of most of our good tern sites?
Description
Size – very similar to Sandwich Terns it was alongside, and under!
Head – bill looked about the same length as Sandwich but maybe marginally deeper at the base, although pale v dark appearance did make a difference to apparent shape it did still look a little deeper, pointed, with no really marked gonys. Whole bill a bright orange with a slightly paler, more yellowish tip, although this was slightly affected by the sun shining through the bill. Gape reached to appoint before the eye but equal to that in Sandwich Tern. Eyes dark set in black cap, formed by black crown and upper nape. Black began at culmen stretching back to eye, with prominent white blaze over gape to the black, then down curved slightly behind eye to a small ear covert patch before continuing to the nape. Shape of black at rear of crown/nape usually fairly square cut but at times when the rear crest relaxed it hung down to about halfway down the nape/hind neck.
Upperparts – mantle, scapulars, and wings (except primaries) were all a fairly uniform mid-grey, very close in tone to 1stS/2CY Kittiwake alongside and always looked darker than Sandwich, although the degree of difference varied with the angle and brightness of the sun. Lacked obvious white tertial crescent shown by nearby Sandwich Terns. Primaries darker grey with a very narrow complete pale fringe, at close range, and a darker grey on the inner webs. Wing tips fell about equal to tail tip. Legs black and of similar length to Sandwich although at times looking thinner.
Underparts – neck and underparts white.
In flight – looked more rakish than Sandwich Tern and showed a shorter looking obviously grey tail with paler outer webs to the outermost feathers and a grey rump uniform with the rest of the upper body. Wings showed a dark block formed by the outer 4-5 primaries, the outermost looking paler, and a narrow white trailing edge to the secondaries.
(Account updated with reference to the new Birds of Lincolnshire (2021), included September 2022)