Got this from Mike Smith (now with US Fish and Wildlife in CA). A little
out of range of Cascadia, but interesting.


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 1997 10:22:02 EDT
From: Michael R Smith <smithspeir at juno.com>
To: kelly at cqs.washington.edu
Subject: Sooty Tern (again)


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FIRST SOOTY TERN NEST FOR THE CONTIGUOUS WESTERN UNITED STATES

or: A brief lesson in natural selection

Suffice to say that we (John Konecny, Eric Hein, and myself)
found a Sooty Tern nest with 1 egg (their normal clutch size) on June 3,
1997 at the Western Salt Works in southern San Diego Bay. The nest was
on a dike between evaporation ponds, and was in the company of Forster's
Tern, Black Skimmer, and Least Tern nests. A pair had been at the same
site last year, and were seen copulating at the mouth of the Santa
Maragarita River, but apparently did not nest. This year, Bob James and
I first saw a Sooty Tern down there on April 15, a single bird, just
flying around the bay. No birds were seen again at the site until May
30, when a pair was noted sitting on the dike, only about 5 meters from
where the nest eventually was. During their absence at the Salt Works,
the birds were occasionally seen at the Bolsa Chica reserve in Orange
County. The pair seen on May 30 appeared to be a mated pair, as they sat
close together, and flew together, showing no aggression towards each
other. On June 3, our next visit, one of the birds was there, sitting on
a single egg. The other adult was nowhere to be seen, but was probably
far offshore foraging, which is typical of Sooty Terns. Now I should
also mention that the Sooty Tern displayed almost no predator avoidance
behavior. It just sat there. When we were within 10 meters of the nest,
it got off the egg and walked away, standing close by. Meanwhile, all
the other neighbors were showing more typical tern behavior, swooping at
us, defecating, making all kinds of noise, etc. But not the Sooty. Well
apparently this is not a good adaptation for nesting in an area regularly
patrolled by Peregrines. An immature bird has been seen in the area
several times, and has taken its toll on Forster's Terns, shorebirds, and
an occasional Elegant Tern. On the next visit, June 6, one of the adults
was found dead, only 10 meters from the nest. The other adult was
incubating. The remains of the dead adult (just a head and wings) were
collected. The following visit, June 10, provided us with the other
adult's dead body (a little more intact, but still with a massive head
wound and the flight muscles and innards gone). We submitted the bodies
and the egg to the San Diego Museum of Natural History. These wounds are
apparently consistent with Peregrine attacks. So, only one week after
its discovery, the west coast's first Sooty Tern nest became museum
specimens (and without using a shotgun!).

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. And we have excellent photos (and
specimen proof of the nest!). We declined to tell people about it to
protect the neighboring terns and skimmers. After the April sighting, I
reported it to the RBA with the explicit request to ask people to look
for it at public beaches near the Salt Works, but not within the Salt
Works (which is a very sensitive nesting area, supporting over 1000 nests
of terns, skimmers, and shorebirds). Well the RBA the next morning
reported them at the Salt Works, and the following day people were
observed out there (trespassing, it's private property) looking for the
Sooty Terns. So being burned the first time, we definitely weren't going
to risk having Least Tern eggs being stepped on, or skimmer nests being
driven over.


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