On October 29th, a single Royal Tern Sterna maxima, was sighted in amongst Common Terns on the north side of west spit. There are two previous records for Sable Island. One involved a group of five seen on August 16th 1971, fighting 50-knot post-hurricane gales (McLaren 1981). The second was a single bird seen two days after Hurricane Gert passed the island on September 22nd, 1999.