My Tern Now

Paul Hadley

Inspired by John Martin’s story ‘One Good Tern Deserves Another’, I went looking for my pictures of the Crested Terns that we had observed performing some amazing aerial acrobatics above the breakwater wall in Narooma NSW.

The Crested Terns with their ready for the races ‘fascinator’ head covering, were hovering above, gliding over and sunning themselves on the rocky wall of the breakwater. It was, however, the aerial performance of two terns that grabbed our attention. Was this a territorial dispute? Was it a complex courtship ritual? Was it just a game? We didn’t know but it was special to watch.

The rocky wilderness of the man-made breakwater, which the Terns share with basking seals, creates a safe passage for boats to a peaceful bay beyond. It passes a reserve of low native coastal heath and grasses, with a headland covered in tall trees of natural bushland. The bay itself reveals a vast mudflat at low tide and wading birds enjoy a bounty of food.

Surrounding the township farmland gives way to vast areas of timbered hills that rise from the coastal fringe. They include both native bushland and plantation forest, and take in a number of National Parks and a State Forest.

This picturesque town is found within the Eurobodalla region and located on the south coast of NSW. We visited there in September 2019, just a few months before this town was severely threatened by bush fire. This was a township that we had never stopped at, let alone spent a weekend in. We fell in love with it and the region immediately.

This is a place that enjoys an abundance of wildlife and spectacular scenery. We desperately want to return there and observe more of what it has to offer.