Hi Bob, 

Unfortunately I did not study the tail of either tern.
 My calling it a probable Royal Tern is based on the
features I mentioned earlier.  Based strictly on what
I saw, I would say it "felt" like a Royal Tern.  I did
not see the bird well enough or long enough for me to
be completely certain of its identity.  Also, I was
rather surprised to see that each bird was flying
south, not north.  I know that this species would be
very unusual over Rock Creek Park in spring, and that
Caspian Tern is much more likely there at any time of
year (not that I've seen any Caspians over Rock Creek
Park).  

Royal Terns have been found every spring recently
along the Potomac, on the Virginia side, from the
stone bridge at the mouth of Hunting Creek on the
Alexandria City/Fairfax County line (just south of the
Wilson Bridge) south to Leesylvania State Park (where
I saw the species with Caspian Terns in 2003) in
Prince William County.  These are all Coastal Plain
sites, with the Hunting Creek site being only about 12
miles from the Rock Creek Park nature center.  

I wish that I had seen the bird well enough for me to
positively identify to species.  

Rob Hilton
aimophila10
Bethesda
yahoo
Maryland

++++++++
Rob,
That's an extraordinary report. My database shows only
three Piedmont records for Maryland, all in the fall,
and none in DC. Could you see anything of the shape of
the tail as the birds flew over? 


Bob Ringler
Eldersburg MD
ringler1 AT adelphia.net

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