Andy:

I just checked my records and find that I regularly have seen Caspian 
Terns locally (in the DC metropolitan area) during mid-April in past 
years.  Usually the birds were in ones and twos.

The largest numbers I could find for April were:

20 near Theodore Roosevelt Island, DC, on April 13, 2000
9 at Anacostia Park, DC, on April 11, 2002 (and another 2 at Hains Point, DC)
11 at Violette's Lock, Montgomery County, on April 11, 2006

In other words, the widespread reporting of this species very 
recently may not be at all unusual.

The abundance graphs in the MOS "Yellow Book" show that peak numbers 
in spring migration in Maryland can be expected in late April and 
early May.  So perhaps the migration is early this year.

My peak count of Caspian Terns for this area is 61, found sitting on 
sand bars in the Anacostia River in DC on May 1, 2005.

Mike Bowen
Bethesda



At 11:35 AM 4/15/2007 -0500, you wrote:
>Any thoughts on why so many Caspian Terns around this past week? 
>Have recent weather patterns discouraged them from moving north?
>
>I have only been following MDOsprey since spring '03 and don't 
>remember in influx of this magnitude (double digit #s from many 
>sites in the piedmont) in past years.  Has this happened before?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Andy Martin
>Gaithersburg, MD
>

D.H. Michael Bowen
8609 Ewing Drive
Bethesda, MD  20817
e-mail:  dhmbowenATyahooDOTcom