Yup, we got plenty of Caspian Terns here in Everett this year! The Everett Herald just printed an article about them on July 29, which you can read at www.heraldnet.com.

As it terns out the warehouse roof where the nesting action is going on right now is just two blocks away from the Anchor Pub. While we typically have lots of terns around here (except during Bellingham's 2010 breeding event, when this place was a tern ghost town) the numbers right now are exceptional. According to the article, the high number counted on the roof on July 10 was 926 adults, 27 chicks, and 129 attended nests. The reason they're nesting on the warehouse this year is because the mill closed down this spring. The industrial roar, and it was loud, has been replaced with peace and quiet - well, as quiet as hundreds of Caspian Terns anyway. That's a sound I like.

I was mopping the Anchor floor early sunday morning when I heard a huge uproar outside and ran to the window; hundreds of terns had lifted off the warehouse en masse, all screaming their heads off. I could hear it inside even with all the doors and windows shut. A bit later this happened again, and I ran up atop the railroad tracks behind the bar to get a better look, just in time to see an adult Bald Eagle come off the roof with something (a chick no doubt), and being very closely escorted off the premises by several hundred terns. Friday evening, about dusk, I was inspecting a beer out in front of the Anchor, when a Peregrine flew by low over the street, headed to the waterfront. I wondered if a falcon might snag a tern chick- might be too risky. I do know terns don't like falcons very much , as I saw down at the Maulsby mudflats a few weeks ago.

Jeff Gibson
tuned in and terned on at
The Anchor Pub
1001 hewitt ave
Everett Wa
Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2012 16:12:24 -0700
From: billandersonbic at yahoo.com
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Caspian Terns

There have been reports of Caspian terns hanging out on the grounds of the old paper mill site in Everett. Has anyone checked it out?


Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA. USA
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