NJYBC Terns Workshop
Leaders: Tom Reed & Sam Wilson
Trip Report
For summer birding, it doesn't get much better then this. It was a beautiful low humidity day and the tern watching opportunities were fantastic. Led by Tom Reed and Sam Wilson, NJYBC's first ever youth birding workshop went off without a hitch. We began at the State Park looking at perched Forster's and Common Terns on the old dock on bunker pond. This is a reliable place to find both species sitting in the same place and they gave us ample opportunity for study. Making our way down the dune path we crossed over onto the beach to watch feeding terns over 'the rips', a congruence of waters of the bay and ocean that terns utilize to find fish. Also visible from the dune were 100+ Black Skimmers that would take to the air every so often in a spectacular show. Several Royal Terns showed up with good views as well as 4 Lesser Black-backed gulls feeding in the surf. In the afternoon we stopped at Stone Harbor Point with one of the highlights being three Brown Pelicans circling high over the beach. A 4th Pelican later flew low over the water.
Later we boarded the Osprey for a back-bay boat tour but first with a rocky ride through the harbor near Cold Spring Inlet. Here we found juvenile and adult Common Terns, a nice find to compare different aging and feather patterns. Surprisingly, we also spotted a Turkey among the dunes on the North East side of the inlet! In the back bay we took a look at some fledgling (and a 4-day old nestling) Forster's Terns on one of the marsh islands. Some early migrating shorebirds were foraging in tide pools scattered around the high marshes. We capped the day off with two special sightings, a Gull-billed Tern swooping and feeding and later a Yellow-crowned Night Heron who arrived right on time for our boat. He proceeded to hunt and kill fiddler crabs to the delight of everyone on board, especially our young photographers!
*Special thanks to Tom Reed for lending his time and expertise and Captain Bob from the Osprey for sponsoring an exclusive trip for NJYBC
Later we boarded the Osprey for a back-bay boat tour but first with a rocky ride through the harbor near Cold Spring Inlet. Here we found juvenile and adult Common Terns, a nice find to compare different aging and feather patterns. Surprisingly, we also spotted a Turkey among the dunes on the North East side of the inlet! In the back bay we took a look at some fledgling (and a 4-day old nestling) Forster's Terns on one of the marsh islands. Some early migrating shorebirds were foraging in tide pools scattered around the high marshes. We capped the day off with two special sightings, a Gull-billed Tern swooping and feeding and later a Yellow-crowned Night Heron who arrived right on time for our boat. He proceeded to hunt and kill fiddler crabs to the delight of everyone on board, especially our young photographers!
*Special thanks to Tom Reed for lending his time and expertise and Captain Bob from the Osprey for sponsoring an exclusive trip for NJYBC