Black Terns at Amwell

14th June 2026

At 11am Graham White posted on the Whatsapp Group there were two Black Terns at Amwell so off I went. It was very quiet bird-wise at the view-point, just a Whitethroat collecting food for its young.

At this time of year Amwell used to be home to several pairs of Common Terns breeding on the rafts, but then in about 2006 Black-headed Gulls started moving up the Lea Valley and taking over the tern's islands and rafts. So not surprisingly the rafts today were full of Black-headed Gulls and only three Common Terns to be seen in front of the view-point. The terns sometimes wait until the gulls have finished their nests and then have a late brood.

This one was having a bath.

For the first hour the Black Terns were spending most of their time right out in the middle of the lake and centred around the tern rafts. Then later on they starting coming closer to the viewpoint allowing some shots to be taken.

Even managed a few shots of the two birds together. Here they were having a break from picking insects off the surface of the water and were catching small fish.

So what about the ages of these birds. Well the bird on the left is obviously an adult. However, you can see the bird on the right has moulted its five innermost primaries leaving the five darker outer primaries, which suggests this is a last year's juvenile bird.

And eventually after flying non-stop for two hours they decided to have a rest on a spit in front of the view-point, disturbing a Gadwall having a rest.

Well, that was an exciting two hours, and why can't all Black Terns be this cooperative.