>
>
>At the club picnic, we had 3 (or maybe 4) least terns moving along the
>creek near the North East Community Park Friday evening. I didn't see any
>carrying nesting material, however.
>

>>Yesterday and Today I have had a pair of Least Terns carrying nesting material at Tritons Marina here in Cecil County. I only had Forsters doing that last year at this spot.
>>


Osprey readers and atlasers,

Its that time of year again!  We need your help.  The Natural Heritage
Program (part of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources)  tracks
populations of colonial nesting waterbirds because they are a guild of
birds of particular conservation interest.  For all of the rare and
special interest species we do annual census counts at colonies.  While
we have a good handle on colony locations for many species there are two
where observations from the birding community are essential to our
population census and conservation efforts - Least Terns and Great Blue
Herons.

In Maryland, Least Terns are state listed as a threatened species.  They
traditionally nested in colonies on predator free stretches of barren
sandy beaches.  This habitat has become essentially non existent; if it
is a sandy beach it is either not predator free or it is so extensively
used by people that it is not suitable Least Tern nesting habitat.  In
addition, sea level rise and shoreline erosion control has resulted in
loss of traditional Least Tern nesting habitat.  In response, Least
Terns have adapted some and most Maryland colonies are now on building
roofs or occasionally barren construction areas; all within a mile or
two of shallow water habitats.

These building nesting Least Terns are very difficult to locate.  Even
before 911, flying low and slow (100 ft.) in a small plane over
inhabited areas was very difficult and now - forget it!  Since flying is
how we locate most of our colonies, we now have no way to find new
building nesting Least Tern colonies other than the help of keen eyed
bird watchers and conservationists.

So please help us by letting us know when you find concentrations of
Least Terns, even, and especially, if they are in unlikely appearing
urban areas.  We have a number of Least Tern colonies on school roofs,
some on warehouse roofs, etc.  Any flat predator free surface near water
is a potential colony location - it does not have to be a true water
surrounded island, it just has to function as a predator free island.

Behaviors to look for are courtship flights and/or numbers of Least
Terns near any flat building roof..  During courtship Least Terns do
what we refer to as "fish flights".  During this behavior the male will
be carrying a small fish in his bill  and be flying in unison with a
female (you can't tell the sexes apart by plumage - but behavioral clues
are usually pretty clear cut).  Males also do courtship feeding where
they will capture a fish and feed it to the female, sometimes following
a courtship flight, sometimes on the ground without having done a
courtship flight.  Observing these behaviors are usually good signs of a
colony nearby.  By the way - Least Terns do not build traditional
"nests" and do not carry sticks, small objects in their bills are most
likely small fish.  Least Tern nests are simply small depressions in the
sand or gravel that they scrape with their feet so that the eggs will
not roll away.  No material other than an occasional attractive nearby
pebble or shell fragment is ever added to the "nest".

If you observe any signs that might indicate a Least Tern colony, please
contact either Jim McCann , myself, or preferably both of us.   At this
time of year e-mail may be more efficient than a phone call.  Our
contact information is below.  Please do not assume that we already know
of any colonies that you might stumble on.  We would rather talk to or
e-mail numerous individuals who know of colonies that we also know of,
than risk not finding out about a colony that someone presumed we knew
of when we actually did not know it was there!  These colony sites are
very important and we work with building owners to help them understand
the importance of their roof top to the conservation of Least Tern
populations in Maryland as well as help them adapt to and live with the
colony on their roof.  Besides if you e-mail or talk to us about a
colony you know of, we may be able to answer a favorite question of
yours, like how long has it been known to be active or how large is it?

You may certainly post your observation to this list server, but please
also e-mail Jim or myself directly.  This time of year is very busy for
us and we might miss your post to the Osprey, but if you e-mail either
or both of us, we will more likely receive your observations in a timely
manner and possibly be able to census the colony and get it into the
system of owner contact for conservation purposes.

We are also interested in observations of Great Blue Heron colonies.
 While they are not a listed species and their populations are steadily
increasing, we do keep track of Great Blue Heron colony locations.  They
are very difficult to survey for on the western shore because of DC
related flight rules instituted since 911.  Again, please do not assume
that we know of the colony - we'd be happy to correspond with, or talk
to, 50 different individuals if we obtain one or two new colony locations!

You may also want to contact the individual responsible for the breeding
bird atlas block that you make the observation(s) in, but Jim and I will
make certain that all colonial waterbird nesting colonies that we know
of get included in the atlas data base.

Our contact information is:

Dave Brinker
Regional Ecologist - Colonial Waterbird Specialist
Natural Heritage Program
Maryland DNR
e-mail :  or 
phone:  410-744-8939

and

Jim McCann
State Zoologist
Natural Heritage Program
Maryland DNR
e-mail: 
phone: 410-827-8612.


Best regards all and thanks for the help of all of your well trained eyes!!