I made the trip yesterday (July 21)to see the numbers of Elegant Terns at
Ocean Shores Game Range. Upon arriving at the sewage ponds (3:30pm), and
heading to the water, I saw 28 flying south toward the mouth of the
harbor. To my left on a sandbar were hundreds of birds, which upon closer
examination were mostly Elegant Terns- over 183! I had not finished
counting before the entire group took off and headed in the same direction
as the first 28. Only two returned with a group of 27 Caspian Terns (I did
not get a chance to count the Caspians before they headed off with the
Elegants). Over the next two hours I watched the group on a newly exposed
sandbar, as the tide went out. The number of Elegant Terns increased to 23
before I left 1 1/2 hours later. All of the Elegants appeared to be
adults, in various states of molt. Most still had a rosy wash on the
underparts, but none had a complete black crest (the darkest had one or
two white feathers showing). Anyway, I am guessing that there was at least
250 birds yesterday afternoon at high tide. Good luck to those who try for
this species. Definitely plan your time at the game range for high tide.
Good birding! Alan

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| Alan J. Knue |
| aknue at u.washington.edu |
| University Of Washington |
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