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Re: Roseate Tern 4:15pm

From:

Dan haas

Reply-To:

Dan haas

Date:

Mon, 18 May 2009 21:48:22 -0400

Details from this afternoon.

After finishing up at the OC Convention center for a work-related
event, I drove down to the inlet.  A quick scan produced a few terns,
some Northern Gannets and not much else.  I decided to hit Skimmer
Island to try to locate the gulls that Bill Hubick mentioned in an
earlier post.  I was not able to locate them.

I stopped on the shoulder of Rt 50 Westbound and walked out onto the
bridge, immediately after noticing a sizable flock of terns feeding
over a large raft of cormorants.  More below...

Roseate Tern Notes: Observed from Rt 50 bridge. The bird was feeding
with a large mixed flock of Common, Forsters (and three nearby flyover
Royals) over a huge raft of fishing DC Cormorants. It had a deep,
black bill, a full adult breeding hood, a silvery-white back with a
long tail. I would've liked to have seen it with a longer tail. I had
the bird in my scope for a good 20-30 seconds, watching it hover and
fly away from me. Occasionally, the bird would give a profile view,
displaying it's black bill and expected hood for a Roseate. It was
quite close and hunting at eye-level. It eventually flew North around
the pier at Hoopers and I lost it. I quickly got in my volvo and moved
to the parking lot at Hoopers in an attempt to refind the bird. I
found the cormorant flock and the many terns hovering above, but I was
not able to relocate the star of the show.

Other birds observed:
Brant     12
Canada Goose     2
Mallard     4
Double-crested Cormorant     75
Great Blue Heron     1
Little Blue Heron     1
Tricolored Heron     1
Black-bellied Plover     1
American Oystercatcher     8
Willet     2
Ruddy Turnstone     3
Laughing Gull     2
Ring-billed Gull     1
Herring Gull     30
Great Black-backed Gull     18
Least Tern     5
Common Tern     19
Forster's Tern     27
Royal Tern     3
Chimney Swift     1
Purple Martin     1
Tree Swallow     1
Barn Swallow     3
European Starling     2
Song Sparrow     1
Boat-tailed Grackle     2

Good Birding,

Dan Haas
West Annapolis, MD