Floods bring terns from beach to road

White-winged Black Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) drops in to mix with smaller Little Tern (Sternula albifrons). Just another morning at the beach? Not quite. The terns are in the middle of a high part of Orient Road, running through Orient Station southeast of Ingham. The local drought's broken with about 600mm of rain in the past 10 days. The first 200mm went straight through the cracks. Much of the past 300mm has backed up and caused minor flooding. It should mean an excellent beef and sugar cane year. And the terns will enjoy a change from the seaside.