Jacobsbaai Arctic Tern

Ken Behrens and I spent an excellent afternoon today birding in Jacobsbaai, along the Atlantic coast about 100km north of Cape Town. We went to have a look at the fantastic tern roost at this spot. We were not disappointed; there were hundreds of Antarctic Terns, with a handful of Swift Terns, at least one Common Tern, and the Arctic Tern in the photos below. Antarctic Tern is the site's big draw--it breeds in Antarctica and only makes its way to South Africa for the winter. We also added an out-of-place Damara Tern along the coast while we were seawatching. Click on the images to see them bigger.

Here the Arctic Tern is on the right of the large rock, dwarfed by the adult Antarctic Tern next to it.

Here's a flight shot by Ken.