Subject: Re - Caspian Terns
Date: May 31 04:07:50 2000
From: Mike Patterson - celata at pacifier.com


Actually, it can be proved that they were aided.
The current site on Sand Island was cleared of vegetation
that had prevented them from settling there. The early (1980's)
colony was on Sand and moved to Rice when it over grew.
Rice is covered by dregde spoils almost yearly and does
not have an opportunity to overgrow.

Even after clearing most terns last year choice
Rice out of habit and had to be attracted to Sand with
decoys (made by school kids at Warrenton Grade School)
and speakers blasting tern calls using the same
protocol used on the east coast to repopulate historical
puffin and tern colonies.




Dennis K Rockwell wrote:
> The majority of this colony moved of it's own
> volition (they may have been aided in that decision by some decoy work
> funded by the Corps of Engineers, but I suspect that would be a tough one to
> prove)

--
Mike Patterson
Expounder of Scientific Wisdom
Astoria High School, Astoria OR
http://columbia-pacific.interrain.org/ahscience/

"The thing I like best about God
is not truth or beauty, but irony..."
from the play Hapwood by Tom Stoppard