Just dried out from Blakeney and now back out in the rain at the London Wetland Centre. They had a good run of birds yesterday (Short eared Owl, Golden Plover, Raven and Brambling) all of which would be Barnes year ticks for me (and the Raven and Owl patch ticks). But today the rain's not really produced anything on site except pushing down a mixed flock of 50-60 hirundines - initially mainly House Martins with a few Swallows mixed in but then a steady passage of Swallows with over 20 birds present over the lake at times. Also around a fairly small number of Wigeon (8) - fewer than last week, around 6-7 Chiffchaffs plus the other usuals.
Decided to visit Hyde Park to take a look at the White winged Black Tern that's been present for nearly a week. Picked it up immediately hawking over the Serpentine - looking pretty incongruous in the middle of a London park. I managed a few photos, but the light was really dire and the autofocus was hunting desperately for most of the time so relied on luck and manual focus to get the following couple of shots. Tail colour astonishingly variable with the light ranging from white to quite a dark grey.
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