I was at Hains Pt, DC this (Sunday, 5/17) morning for almost 2 hours,
enjoying the damp & chilly morning (will miss it when the summer heat
hits).  It was as if I was living Gail & Barry's birding experience from
a week or 2 ago - on the green buoy in the middle of the Potomac,
opposite the north end of National Airport, there were 4 FORSTER'S
TERNS.  They were soon joined by 2 strikingly dapper alternate plumaged
BLACK TERNS which came up the river, actively feeding as they flew.  All
6 terns stayed on the buoy or almost an hour before a GREAT BLACK-BACKED
GULL came in forced them to take flight.  Interestingly, all the terns
flew back downriver instead of continuing to fly up river.
 
Also of note were 4 LAUGHING GULLS, which flew down from the Anacostia
and continued heading downriver.
 
Last point, I ran into Gail & Barry shortly after the terns took off,
and they had seen a Green Heron that morning (as well as one a week or 2
ago).  So that means the official tally is 9 long-legged waders at Hains
Pt. - and not just this year, all were seen this month!  Will we be able
to hit double digits?
 
Good birding,
Paul Pisano
Arlington, VA