Unusual Terns and Common Terns in Flight

Is there anything more beautiful than a tern in flight? Not to me there isn't! Here is a gorgeous Roseate Tern in flight.


I also think the more unusual a tern is, the better I like it. Very shallow, I know! This is an Arctic Tern. Arctic Terns have the distinction of the longest migration of any birds on earth!


This tern is common around here, but its certainly not a Common Tern everywhere!


Another shot of the lovely Roseate Tern in mid air.

Birdathon Oystercatchers, Roseate Terns, Brants,and more!

The best surprise of the day was definately this American Oystercatcher. Pete would have loved to see this!


Criss-crossed terns!


Not the best photo for an ID, but this Roseate Tern image was the best quality of the few I managed to take during Birdathon, The swirling fog is simply impossible to deal with.


A better ID pic of the Roseate Tern, although very fuzzy.


Brants are a type of winter geese around here. They are very cute and shy.

IT ISN'T TOO LATE TO DONATE!

Bird-a-thon 2011

Willet

These are some of the pictures that Pete, Tom, and I took during Birdathon last year.

Piping Plover

Birdathon is a 24 hour race to find as many bird species as possible in Massachusetts. It a big fundraiser for Mass Audubon, but it's also a way to get detailed "state of the birds" data and migration data.

Roseate and Common Terns

Birdathon is also a crazed competition between Mass Audubon sanctuaries. Different teams spread out throughout the state - climbing mountains and wading through swamps - just to find that one rare species that might win the day for their team.

Yellow Warbler

Last year we met up with my cousin Catie in Bridgewater on Friday night. (Catie's BirdingGirl blog inspired me to start blogging two years ago!)

Marbled Godwit

We were up at dawn to try our luck at Plymouth Airport, then Tom, Pete, and I walked all the way out to the very tip of the peninsula at Plymouth Beach and all the way back in.

Canada Goslings

Then Pete dragged us to the Daniel Webster sanctuary to add even more birds to the list!

Laughing Gull

Despite the endless and very tiring walk, Plymouth Beach was a blast - and a birder's delight.

Common Tern

Pete can't be here for Birdathon this year. He started a new job as a Forest Ranger in Oregon yesterday. I still haven't adjusted to not having him around, and I miss him terribly.

Common Tern

Between not having Pete to ID birds and my residual pain and vision problems from breathing in metal dust and glue fumes last winter, I was planning to skip Birdathon this year.

Semipalmated Plover

But at the very last minute I changed my mind! I might not do as well without Pete, but with Tom at my side I'm going to try. I'll probably embarrass myself - but at least it's for a good cause!

Of course, I'm really desperate for donations now because Birdathon is only two days away. If you can spare a few dollars to save The Nature of Massachusetts, I'd be eternally grateful!

Traumatic Tern Identification in the Fall

I have always thought that terns are graceful, elegant, and beautiful birds.  It can be a real challenge to distinguish between tern species, however.  Even in the best of circumstances (which would be when all are in breeding plumage and posing exactly as they do in a field guide), it can be virtually impossible to correctly ID all the terns you see.  For an amateur tern aficionado like myself, every correctly identified tern is a major triumph. I'm not alone in having problems, either.  In the Advanced Birding Peterson Field Guide, there is a chapter on The Medium-sized Terns about Common Terns, Roseate Terns, Arctic Terns and Forster's Terns.  Our local terns, in other words.  I wouldn't have known this was a Forster's Tern in breeding plumage if a knowledgeable birder and photographer named Myer Bornstein, aka photo Bee1 on Flickr,hadn't told me.  


Identifying breeding adult terns is nothing compared to trying to ID these terns in September, however.  Adult terns are molting.  Juvenile terns are hard to identify at the best of times, and in September they are changing every day.  I have spent countless hours staring at pictures and consulting every book in my arsenal, but for the most part I can't figure out what species of terns we saw and photographed last weekend!


This one I know is a non-breeding Forster's Tern.  I only know this because a truly expert birder, known as corvid01 on Flickr, made the identification for me. The really good news is that one of my goals for our weekend birding expedition was to see a Forster's Tern.  The bad news is that I didn't know I had seen one. 


All four species bills turn black in winter, making bill color pretty worthless as a field mark in the fall.  Head patterns also change in the fall for all four species.  Some of the black caps will turn partially white for the winter, so head patterns are in flux during September, too.  This bird has an almost all black bill, dark (possibly black) legs, and what looks like a long white tail.  If it were June, those clues would have suggested a Roseate Tern.  In September, I can't even hazard a guess!


I'm guessing Forster's here because of the eye patch look, but it is just a guess.  At this rate, I will be a student of terns forever, never mastering the subtleties of the true birder.  I'm OK with that, actually.  I enjoy learning things more than knowing things in most cases.  On the other hand, if anyone out there can help, please do!