Peter Moore's Wildlife Blog: Back again

Tuesday, 10 March 2026

Back again

Forster's Tern became one of the rarest additions to my bike list when one appeared at Lytchett Bay in April 2023. It has returned to Poole Harbour either in spring or autumn (and sometimes both) every year since but its appearance off Baiter Park on the last day of February this year was its earliest by some distance. Delight was added to surprise when the bird began roosting regularly on posts in Poole Park close to the path, affording some of the best views possible over the last four years.

Forster's Tern, Poole Park

My priority on its reappearance this year was to add it to the non-motorised yearlist so the Sunday after its re-discovery by Joe Parker the previous afternoon I gambled on it revisiting the scene of past crimes and headed for the Arne/Middlebere area where it has been seen fairly regularly most years since its arrival. The gamble didn't pay off and I spent the next couple of days working in London whilst it seemed to settle into a routine of fishing off Baiter in the late afternoon.

Forster's Tern, Poole Park

I was able to rejig a few work commitments on Wednesday afternoon sufficient to dash over to Baiter on the bike and not long after arriving the bird was reported again - but unfortunately it was on Brownsea where Phil Bentley and Steve Smith had just relocated it! I was confident it would return to Baiter so messaged Phil to ask him to let me know when it left. Within 15 minutes he did so which put me and other birders at Baiter on high alert. A few minutes later a tern approached but it was just a Sandwich. Then a minute or so after that I looked up and two more terns appeared but they were almost past me by the time I got onto them. I instinctively shouted 'there it is!' as I caught a glimpse of the distinctive head pattern, but both birds flew directly away depriving us of definitive proof (though photos snatched at the time showing the red legs would prove my initial suspicions correct).

My first view of the Forster's Tern in 2026 as it flew almost overhead at Baiter Park on 4th March

It was otherwise distant in a single circuit of Parkstone Bay when I saw it on 4th March

Views were much closer in Poole Park - here with a Common Gull among the Black-headed Gulls

Forster's Tern, Poole Park

The two terns split up and I found myself following the 'wrong' one (another Sandwich) but fortunately Chris Courteaux was following the 'right one'. It did a single circuit of Parkstone Bay, diving twice, before heading back towards Brownsea not to be seen again that day as a thick sea fret set in, reducing visibility to a few yards. By Friday the Tern was regularly using the posts in nearby Poole Park to roost and I managed a couple of visits over the weekend to enjoy superb views, although photography was a bit of a challenge in the complete absence of sunlight.

Common Gull on Wareham Common on 1st March, seen on my return from an unsuccessful search for the Forster's Tern

Curlew at Middlebere seen whilst searching for the Forster's Tern on 1st March

Mediterranean Gull at Baiter Park, 4th March

Mandarin in Poole Park, 4th March

On my first visit, the Forster's Tern was sporting 2 long tail streamers. By my second it had lost one and by my third it had moulted both, so if it sticks around to complete its moult I may yet get another chance to see it in the sunshine.