I did not see any of the Bridled Terns or jaegers that Todd Day
encountered further up the west shore of the Bay today.  Perhaps because
we didn't get down to Scientists' Cliffs until around 1030, and then
there were distractions such as downed trees, power outage, the damage
from the waves during last night's high tide, and a couple of barges
that had gone aground between Scientists' Cliffs and Governor's Run. 
(Though there was a flock of 6 Black Terns headed south in the early
afternoon.)  Neighbors recovered my missing kayak a mile south of where
the boat rack it had been on formerly stood.  While paddling it back to
the north between late this afternoon (enjoying the calm flat water and
beautiful sunshine from the west), I encountered two tropical terns that
were headed down the Bay (southwards).  I got much better looks at the
first, which was only circa 250 m off the shore and caught my attention
with its "wacky wack" call.  A medium-sized tern with dark, blackish
upperparts; white forehead; dark tail; white throat, breast, and belly;
and strong contrast in the underwings between white coverts and blackish
flight feathers.  After another five minutes or so, I spotted another
dark above, white below tern heading south.  My impression was that it
was also an adult Sooty, but it was much farther out over the Bay and I
did not get a good look at it.  Both birds were seen between 1630 and
1645 EDT.

Sherman Suter
Port Republic MD
back in Alexandria, VA 22307 (where we have power)
ssuter   aaas    org