Arctic tern

Anyone who has visited the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick will recognise this statue of an Arctic tern instantly. I know it's been blipped before, but I'm very fond of it and am blipping it again! It's been a grey blustery day today, so I thought B&W suited this photo - just the kind of day when I'm glad I'm not an Arctic tern.

Arctic terns are amazing - they migrate from their northen breeding grounds (as far south as Brittany and Massachusetts) to the oceans around Antarctica and back each year, a round trip of about 70,900 km (c. 44,300 miles) each year. I was lucky enough to visit the Farne Islands (one of their main breeding grounds in the UK) three years ago and saw thousands of them. They are beautiful in the air if the sun is shining as their wings are translucent, and are known as swallows of the sea because of their long tails. I've now made an entry from that visit to show their wings in flight.