Chris Murray, back in town from VA for a day, just texted me from Pax
River Park in PG with no sightings of this tern.  He is on his way to
Mt Calvert.  I'll keep everyone posted with further reports from Mr.
Murray.

Best,

Dan Haas

On Tue, Jul 6, 2010 at 8:45 AM, Fred Shaffer <> wrote:
> 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
>