Whiskered Tern, Cape May, NJ 8/9 & 8/10/98
Tyler Bell (bell@say.acnatsci.org)
Mon, 10 Aug 1998 12:45:42 -0400
Ospreyers:
I know this is extralimital but I remember seeing a bunch of you at Cape
May when the Brown-chested Martin was there ;)
--
Good Birding! ...and all this science,
Tyler Bell I don't understand, It's
mailto:bell@say.acnatsci.org just my job five days a week.
California, MD Elton John (Rocket Man)
http://www.anserc.org/
Subject: Re: 155,000 mile chase; whiskered tern update
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 1998 22:18:37 EDT
From: Sandy Sherman <PAAVOCET@AOL.COM>
To: BIRDCHAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
On Sunday, Aug. 9, Fred Lesser wrote in part,
<<This WHISKERED TERN is in full breeding plumage with no sign of
moulting.(snip)
Now the big question. Is this the same bird that showed up in 1993 and
eluded
all U.S. birders till now or is it a new bird???>>
Fred,
After you left, Richard Crossley, the tern finder, came running up with
his camera. He looked through my scope a bit, then shot some photos. We
watched the Whiskered Tern chase a Forster's Tern, forcing it to give up
a fish, then a Laughing Gull chased the Whiskered Tern into dropping it.
Soon after that, the tern picked up again and headed out over the dunes.
(I heard second-hand that it was later seen down by the Rips in the
company of a Black Tern). Richard was talking to Kevin Karlson,
explaining that, even though he found the bird on Saturday, he had not
seen it very well or for very long. They commented today that the bird
had brown tertials, making it a second-year bird and, thus, eliminating
the possibility of it being the 1993 visitor.
It is most spectacular in flight.
As others may have noted on Laurie's message, the Whiskered Tern was not
relocated until a little after 1 this afternoon. For those unfamiliar
with the history, this is only the second documented record of this
species in North America. The first, in July 1993, was originally found
in Cape May (at the South Cape May Meadows, then Bunker Pond, where it
has been this weekend), then relocated across the Delaware Bay in the
state of Delaware.
Sandy Sherman
paavocet@aol.com
Collingdale, PA (Philadelphia suburbs)