A first-summer (= almost one year-old) Arctic Tern was observed this morning at Nickerson Beach, Nassau County. It was resting with Common Terns in a small beach-front loafing flock which was soon disturbed by passers-by, after which the Arctic Tern was not seen again.
As is characteristic of the occurrence of this species on Long Island, this morning's follow-up effort, after yesterday's adult Arctic Tern at this site, failed to produce that bird but instead yielded a recognizably different individual. These birds seem to drop in for short visits to favorable loafing sites, for periods ranging from a few minutes to a few hours, and only rarely does a particular bird persist for multiple days. There are several places at Nickerson that are currently attracting loafing/visiting terns not directly associated with the nearby breeding colony, including a large flock next to the fenced-off freshwater pool next to the western colony--ideal for our purposes because it is less vulnerable to disturbance than are the beach-front flocks. Photos of this morning's bird can be seen here: https://flic.kr/p/2m34yJq Shai Mitra Bay Shore -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
