Subject: Re: 07-15-97 Des Moines Marina, WA, USA (Terns)
Date: Jul 16 07:13:01 1997
From: kraig at wln.com - kraig at wln.com
Maureen warned:
>Heads UP!
>An "invasion" of Caspian terns, at least 8 in a swirling and noisy
>foraging party, were seen, at about 8:30PM, just north of the fishing
>pier near the Beach Park at mid-tide. Earlier in the season a couple
>of Caspians were seen near the Marina about the first of June, but
>only for a day or so.
>
>Perhaps these current birds are a post-breeding dispersal group;
>however, all appeared to be mature (typical adult calls and solid
>black caps.) This is the first season since I started monitoring Des
>Moines Marina in December of 1994 that I've seen Caspians at our
>little coast. I'm sure long-time birders around here have probably
>seen them transiently in this area over the years.
Down here along the Thurston County shore, the invasion has already
arrived. For the past two years, we've been steadily serenaded with
the dulcet tones of Caspians squawking overhead, spring, summer, and
fall, night and day. Where do they come from? Where do they breed?
These birds are here in numbers by May. I understand that Caspians
are expanding their range northward; they must be breeding somewhere.
I've been wondering about the same thing up in Skagit County, where
flocks of them roost on the Samish Bay tide flats at low tide. I'd
assumed that these birds came from the ex-colony at the Everett naval
base.
So, how universal is this expansion?
Eric Kraig
Olympia, WA
kraig at wln.com