Last night, I went kayaking out of Selby's Landing hoping to see the White Ibis.  I went south and into Mattaponi Creek (highlights included 1 Least Bittern, 1 possible King Rail (heard once), and hundreds of swallows (Tree, Bank, Barn and Purple Martins).

But, the highlight was as I kayaked back north.  I went north of Selby's Landing and into the southern edge of Jug Bay.  I had a tern flying over the open water.  Initially I passed it off as a Forster's Tern (the default tern here).  But, given last week I decided to get a few photos of the bird.  Fortunately, it circled back around and I got three distant, but identifiable shots.  The bird circled off and then left.  I then left as the boat ramp closes at 7:30.  I still thought it was probably a Forster's at this point, although it didn't seem quite right (too uniform gray above, structure slightly off).  However, as I hadn't looked at my photos, I didn't think too much of it.

I went through my photos at home (agonizing somewhat over the pattern of the upperwing, as well as the apparent translucent primaries), and then e-mailed them to Jim Stasz for a second opinion.  He e-mailed them to both Marshall Illiff and Matt Hafner, who all confirmed that the photos were of an Arctic Tern, not a Forster's.

Again, the details of the sighting were one tern over Jug Bay, just north of Selby's Landing on Monday, July 5th.  I viewed the bird through bins only from my kayak, but noticed that it did not have the extremely pale primaries (above) as a Forster's would.  I saw the bird for 1 or 2 minutes (at probably around 7:05 pm) before it flew off to the south and I didn't see it again.   I was on the river until 7:30 and I did not see the bird return.  The photos later confirmed that the bird was an even gray on the wings above, had a smallish head, several primaries appeared translucent in one shot, and the white underwing had a dark trailing edge to the primaries.  It circled over the open water of the bay, the river, and the marsh.  Based on where I was and where the bird flew, it was probably actually in both Anne Arundel and Prince George's Counties.

And, I apologize for not getting the word out sooner.  I was unsure about the bird last night, and only looked at the photos later.  And, I didn't want to post about the bird until I was certain, as after last week's Arctic Tern at Violette's Lock, it is too easy turn other terns into Arctic with poor views and a little over-enthusiasm.  Good luck to those who chase this bird.  And, thank you to Jim Stasz for the second opinion!
  
Fred Shaffer

Crofton, Anne Arundel