Could it be practicing diving for fish?

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> On Oct 1, 2021, at 8:16 PM, John Riegsecker <jriegsecker at pobox.com> wrote:

>

> Today while watching the terns at Coulter Creek County Park I saw a juvenile Caspian Tern "playing" with a stick. This evening, while going through my photos I discovered I had photographed a Caspian Tern flying with a stick which it dropped, and then dove into the water to retrieve. It then carried it back to the group of terns.

>

> Birds of the world has this to say:

>

> Play

> Two adults were observed on repeated occasions flying over a lake, carrying small dark objects in bills; from time to time they dropped the objects but retrieved them before they hit the water (132). Other investigators have observed 2 adults playing with a stick (in 1 case about 12 cm long) in a manner similar to that described by King (J. Quinn pers. comm., FJC).

>

> Curious if others have seen this. Some photos and eBird list here:

>

> https://ebird.org/pnw/checklist/S95456745

>

> --

> John Riegsecker

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