Good evening all,

I'm curious about the regular evening flight of Caspian Terns that takes
place every day, at about the same time. I live in the heart of downtown
Bellingham and I hear the terns before I get out onto our rooftop to see them. There
are sizable concentrations of terns down at the waterfront during the day and
they always make this evening flight, always heading northeast.
A straight line flight would take them north of Lake Whatcom, so I'm curious
to know where they might be heading.

Could they possibly be heading to the gravel bars on the Nooksack River or to
other night roosting sites inland? Does anyone else with Caspian Terns in
their neighborhood observe this movement? Can anyone shed a bit of light on this
puzzle?

This evening, I counted as many >100 terns in scattered and typically noisy
groups.
Color me 'curious in Bellingham.'

Cheers,
Joe Meche
Editor, the Avalanche / Birding Programs Coordinator
North Cascades Audubon
Bellingham, WA