Terns by the Thousands

"One good Tern deserves another."  And another, and another.  The plan for the morning birding was to look for shore birds that had been observed in the vicinity of the lagoon that spreads on to the beach at the south end of Morro Strand campground.  Our view as we (Mike Baird and I) neared the beach was of thousands of extremely vocal Elegant Terns.  We were in total amazement, momentarily forgetting about shore birds.   

 The sound of a giant flock of Elegant Tern chattering is a "wonder" of the birding world.

On this overcast August morning the beach was quiet.  To the north and to the south flocks of Elegant Terns.   Moments after we arrived we saw a Caspian Tern.  Following the Caspian was a fussing adolescent.  I clearly heard it say, "Feed me, Feed me."

On the fringe of the Elegant Tern flock was a smaller flock of Heermann's Gull; along the outer edge of the Gull flock were two Royal Terns (above), an adult and an adolescent begging for food.

I watched an adult Elegant Tern with a small silvery fish gripped in her bill circle over the flock, calling and calling.  She circled many times.  Finally her youngster rose into the air and followed her away from the flock. They landed and the youngster took the fish.

Eventually, we birded the lagoon. Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Wilson's and Red-necked Phalarope, Semi-palmated Plover, Western Sandpiper, Killdeer, Long-billed Curlew, and here and there Ring-billed Gull (below).

 We met up with Meg, who monitors nesting Snowy Plover.  She said a Black Skimmer had been seen on the edge of a flock of gulls. As we stood talking, suddenly she pointed up.  A Black Skimmer was flying over us.  They are a seldom seen bird on the central coast.  Before landing it swooped over the lagoon to skim the surface for edibles.  Skimmers feed by flying low with bill open, dipping the lower mandible into the water.  Super treat seeing the Skimmer.  First time sighting for Meg and Mike.

The Black Skimmer is in the center of the photo, to the left is a Willet.  On the Morro Strand State Beach, the nesting Snowy Plover is protected and watched over by State Park monitors.  Dogs are not allowed, and the dunes are cordoned off.  Temporary wire cages protect the Plover nests from predators.  In the background of the photo is a nesting cage.  The Snowy Plover (below) can go in and out at will, but predators cannot. 

The highlight of the morning -- being surrounded by thousands of swirling, swooping clouds of excited Terns and Gulls -- one moment they were resting and preening on the beach, the next moment they were in flight.  After a few minutes they landed and they were back to resting, preening which they do with gusto, and feeding their offspring.   Click on the link to see the swirling mass of Terns.
    https://youtu.be/qpw9CSTvS0A

Return of The Terns

Elegant and Royal Terns have returned to Morro Strand Beach.  Huge flocks have been observed.  On Sunday the weather was lovely and the beach was filled with beach goers who often, unaware of bird etiquette, walk directly through a resting flock, disbursing them out to sea.  As a result of the busy beach, Terns were not abundant, but fortune did shine. 

North of the beach goers, was a long lagoon formed by recent, very high tides.  Three Terns were standing in shallow water, two were bathing. The smaller Elegant Tern was flanked by two larger Royals.  In the photo you will notice the smaller Elegant (right) has a slightly drooping, slimmer bill while the bill of the larger Royal is more robust in size and color.  Trying to identify the two species in a large flock may require patience.

 Arriving at the same time as the Terns are the Heermann’s Gulls.  Terns dive for fish, Heermann's Gulls do not, instead they steal fish from the Terns.  Technically speaking, Heermann’s Gulls are kleptoparasites, they feed by taking prey from another animal.  Heermann’s Gull is often found in close proximity to a flock of Terns.

Continuing north, stopped at Cayucos and Toro Creeks.  I would rate Cayucos Creek (above) as very sad and scummy, but did observe a flock of 7 beautiful Killdeer, one Canada Goose, and a bobbing Spotted Sandpiper in fading breeding plumage.  (The Cayucos pier is in the process of reconstruction.)

Nearly forgot to mention that on the Torro Creek beach, also know as Dog Beach, there was a mixed flock of Long-billed Curlew and Whimbrel. Since the dogs were playing down by the water, I was able to spend time looking at the flock, in particular two smaller resting birds.  Could they be juvenile Long-billed Curlew? I had never seen one. They stood up. Yes!  They were juvenile Long-billed Curlew.  That first time sighting definitely made my day.  

CAYUCOS BEACH - ESTERO BLUFFS

Cayucos Beach State Park - Flock of about 30 Heermann's Gull (see photo) resting near the mouth of Old Creek, an excellent area for finding returning migratory shore birds and Terns. Probing in the wet sand were 3 Long-billed Curlew, 4 Whimbrel, and two Killdeer were calling (I do enjoy birds that announce themselves.)

Estero Bluffs State Park - Hoping to see, or at least hear, a Grasshopper Sparrow, but all was quiet. Two Savannah Sparrow showed themselves, 4 Black Oystercatcher on the rocks. Long lines of Brant Cormorant heading north.
(Caution - there are ticks.)