Well the saga continues:

All the Broom was removed on Sunday. That only leaves a few dozen Elderberry
bushes and pernicious Brambles and the site is clear of shrubs. All of those
should be clear by the end of the week.

The next milestone is the arrival of the gravel, which will form the bed in
the main nesting area. The gravel, mixed with the underlying sand will provide
a well drained nesting site - emulating the excellent site the terns HAD over
at the Naval base. The Navy are bringing over by chopper on Wednesday and
Thursday.

The end is now in sight and a good thing too. The first Caspian Tern was seen
on Saturday flying over the site - prospecting perhaps ? The typical arrival
date is roughly the first week of April. So a rough guess is that there is
about 3 weeks to get the site ready before the main arrival and they start
looking for a new home.

Still looking for volunteers, not asking but BEGGING you (down on bended
knees, while I type this) to phone John Flavin on (206) 744 0805 and make an
appointment for some fresh air and exercise. Everybody (all three of us) got a
nice suntan on Sunday and the sea air will do you good. The work in not hard
- that's all been taken care of, but clearing the site of the uprooted brush,
raking it over and spreading gravel all require more pairs of hands rather
than brute strength and ignorance - believe me I should know :-).

Stuart MacKay