Tweeters,

Yesterday (Sun, July 16th) my wife and I canoed and hiked out to the tern
colony on Dungeness Spit. This year there are ~1000+ Caspian Terns (hard to
estimate) nesting on the edge of Graveyard Spit near the 4 mile marker on the
hike out to the lighthouse (about a mile shy of the lighthouse). We saw 3
adult Arctic Terns, but saw no evidence of them nesting. Perhaps their mates
were on eggs, we can hope? The 3 Arctic Terns were not carrying food, but
were roosting on the cobble beach some distance from the nesting colony of
Caspian Terns. We observed them for about 45 minutes during which an immature
Eagle flew through the colony and caused a stir. At that time the Arctics flew
directly over our vantage point on the west side of the spit about 100 meters
from the colony.
Lots of migrating shorebirds: many Sanderlings in fading
alternate-plumage, 2 Long-billed Dowitchers among 100 or so Short-bills at the 3 Crabs,
lots of adult Westerns and Least Sandpipers (no juvs, yet), 4 Oystercatchers,
many Bl-bellied Plovers with some in still-stunning alternate garb, and 2
Whimbrels. The water level at Helen's Pond across from the 3 Crabs is quite high,
but there are ample wet Salicornia areas nearby that look great and should
be checked regularly.

Cheers,
George and Eva Gerdts
_geopandion at aol.com_ (mailto:geopandion at aol.com)