I know that the data on terns indicates they should not be seen in winter in
Puget Sound. And when I read the report from Nisqually the other day, I
raised an eyebrow.

That said, our records of birds are not of all that has occurred in nature,
they are merely what knowledgeable people have observed and recorded. In
other words, they are a representation of what might be expected, but they
are not all-inclusive and therefore they are not definitive. Never mind
climate change, the truth is, we don't know all the birds that have ever
flown past a place, or ever could.

I have lived on the saltwater shoreline in central Puget Sound for 20
years-plus, and have been paid attention to the birds every moment I could.
Needless to say, I have observed terns and gulls on thousands of occasions
and have a decent shot at knowing which is which. On January 6, 1996, I saw
a Caspian Tern flying past our house. I wrote it down, albeit with
considerable wonderment The next day, I saw one fly by again. That being
the age of land lines and hot lines, I called it in to the county birding
number, the "RBA." I have no idea whether anyone else ever saw it, but I
don't think so. Doesn't mean it didn't happen.

So if someone says they saw a tern, I'd ask questions, but I wouldn't say it
couldn't be so.

Gary T. Smith
Alki Point, Seattle


-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Teresa
Michelsen
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 6:01 PM
To: 'Tweeters'
Subject: RE: [Tweeters] Re: terns and gulls

I'll put in my 2 cents, as I've been thinking about this a little.

To me, it did look like Kevin was responding to Darlene and offhandedly
contradicting her post. On the other hand, he could have just been reporting
what he saw and knew based on long experience to be true. Taking all the
personal stuff out of it, which I hope everyone will, a couple of points can
be made:

First, anywhere in the country, refuge volunteers often are not
knowledgeable sources of bird information, though our first instinct is to
think they would be. They're volunteers - they love the place and they
provide an incredibly valuable service to all of us who want to go and
visit, but they may or may not have any particular expertise. And if they
do, it may be in a field totally unrelated to birding - like geology,
wildflowers, mammals, butterflies, fish, etc. Sometimes you'll get lucky and
find one that really knows birds, but you're way more likely to find that by
walking around and looking for the people with binos and scopes, looking up
into the trees or out onto the flats :)

However, I have also found that if asked, refuge volunteers will give you an
answer, whether or not it's right. I don't blame them for that, they really
want to be helpful, and they may not realize just how important it may be to
one of us that it is really right. Often I find they're repeating
information they've heard from other visitors or experts, without really
being certain of the specific bird in question. Aside from that, even
knowledgeable experienced bird guides make mistakes, so of course they can
too. So my personal rule is that I either have to be able to identify it
myself, or stand around with a bunch of other birders until we reach a
consensus and I can see for myself what the field marks are that they're
using.

I also wanted to point out that another quick way to verify whether an
identification is reasonable for Nisqually (or Marymoor Park, Montlake Fill,
or other places that are censused frequently) is to check the current weekly
Tweeters reports for that location. If that group sees no terns (or
conversely, does see terns) during that time of year you can use that
information to verify or refute your tentative sighting.

Lastly, as just a middling birder myself, and struggling with gulls and
terns of all varieties, at least I've learned a bit of information I didn't
know before - lack of terns over winter months in places I inhabit. That
should narrow things down a bit! Assuming I venture out in the cold and rain
enough to spend hours puzzling over gulls ;) - Teresa

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