>Hi, Yesterday a couple of friends and I drove to Ediz Hook, looking for the
>snowy owl (no show). We did see several species of old friends, but about
>six pm, looking toward the sunset, we saw 4-5 terns. The lighting was bad
>for distinguishing marks clearly, but they had black wing-tips with a dab of
>white at the very end, bills seemed to be yellowish, eyes dark. I thought I
>could see a faint, dark, eye-stripe. They hovered like terns, and dived
>head first into the water. The pure white tail was only slightly concave,
>not deeply forked.
>I have been moving, and don't have all my bird books with me yet, so
>definitely need help with the identification. Oh, they were only about half
>the size of a Western gull which perched nearby.
>Thanks,
>Mickey Gibson
>Sequim,WA


Mickey, your description makes your birds Mew Gulls to me. They might well
be diving for something just below the surface. Typically terns dive from
quite high in the air, 15' or more, while gulls, when they dive, do it from
just a few feet above the water.

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