>Tweets:
>
>I so enjoyed watching the Caspian Tern feeding along the south east side of
>Whidbey Island two years ago when they were actively nesting at the
>Everett site
>just across the bay.
>Yesterday, while kayaking off the Nisqually Delta, we watched a large flock of
>Caspian Tern feeding where the rivers flow into Puget Sound and flying overhead
>in large kettles. Could these be the same (Everett) colony? or have they
>frequented the Delta in the past?
>
>Frances Wood

There are a lot of Caspians wandering around Washington waters every
summer, either prebreeding birds or wanna-be breeders. When terns are
displaced from breeding area, they often search for an alternative site.
Sometimes they spontaneously desert even when there are no obvious
human-disturbance factors. There have been a few dozen Caspians at places
like Dungeness and Nisqually for some years now, with no evidence of
breeding, but perhaps a "large flock" included some of the Everett birds.

Speaking of white seabirds, and with all due apologies to Jerry Broadus,
I've named that ravine where those glaucous-wings always hang out that now
seems to be their breeding site: the Gull Gully Gullery.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416