Surprises on the Patch

My parents decided to go for a walk round Marton Mere yesterday afternoon so I joined them as I haven't been down recently and was interested to see what was around. There had been 3 Common Terns on the 30th however terns never stick around on the mere so I assumed they would have gone, so I was very surprised to see a single bird fishing around the west end when we arrived. We walked round to the Fylde Bird Club hide where Maurice was already set up and watching the other 2 terns on the wooden posts in front of the hide giving great views as they defended their perch from gulls that tried to land on it. This is only my second ever sighting of Common Tern on the mere following a single bird in 2006, and what was very interesting to see was that 2 of the birds were obviously a pair and on 3 occasions what we assume was the male passed a fish to the female and performed part of the courtship display. It is surely too late for them to try breeding now but maybe next year? Another good sighting was a Water Rail that scuttled in front of the hide between the areas of reed, a rare sight here in the summer and it is my first August record at the site, it was for Maurice as well.