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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Cantelo" data-source="post: 1285828" data-attributes="member: 2844">Magicseaweed? What a terrific site - why hadn't anyone told me about it  before!  In fact it's almost worth a thread of its own.Joanne - obviously that dark saddle is the key ID feature, but don't get mesmerised by it since it's visible less often than you may think.  When the bird is at (or above) your line of sight or when it's banking with it's underside towards you it's little or no use.  Since this may well be 50% of the time, remember to look closely at any "Black Tern" that has a slightly less fluid wing action, marginally shorter & rounder tipped wings and distinctly paler upper wing than Black Tern.  You might not actually take in all these subtleties at once, but follow any tern that looks a 'bit odd' until you can verify it's back colour.  A lot of people were struggling to pick it up (at longish range) last Saturday because, I suspect, they were only looking for one feature; without wishing to sound too arrogant, I picked it up more quickly because I was attuned to these less obvious points.Good luck on Friday - there's a small chance I might be down there myself, although as I leading another walk there on Saturday. I'll probably bird more locally,John</blockquote>