As the world terns

  

Small flock of Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia) and Elegant Terns (Thalasseus elegans) near Drakes Estero this morning (9 August 2025).

There are five Caspians on the left side and one in the far background.  Note their larger size and more robust bills.  Here's a close-up to compare the two species:

 

 

In the photo above there are two Caspian Terns in the foreground on the left side and one Caspian in the background; all of the others are Elegant Terns.  

It's helpful to compare their bills -- the Caspian has a more robust, red bill, with a bit of black towards the tip of the bill.  In contrast, the Elegant has a longer, thinner bill that's often more orange (or yellow) in color, rather than red.  It can also look like it is curved downward because of the shape of the ridge of the upper bill.  

The length and color of Elegant Tern bills vary quite a bit, so here's a close-up of Elegant Terns:

 

 

October morning

  

Yesterday (10 October 2024) Eric and I made a quick trip to Chatham, Massachusetts, and encountered a nice flock of Forster's Terns (Sterna forsteri).  

The terns flew to a sandbar, spent some time roosting and preening, then some individuals took off and started diving on a school of fish in shallow water.  The autumn light was nice and I don't often get to spend much quality time with Forster's Terns, so here are a few photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a relatively large flock of Forster's Terns, ~250 birds.  I didn't get a photo of the entire flock, but here's one that shows the general scene.  [You can click on any of the images for larger versions.] 

 

 

 

And another showing the view to the south:

 

We left feeling grateful for an October morning on Cape Cod.

Seabird sampler

  

Here's a sampling of seabirds we encountered in Iceland.  Most of these photos were taken on the ferry to/from Heimaey except as noted.

Above, a Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea), and below a Sooty Shearwater on the left and a Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) on the right.  Note the size and color differences (the Manx Shearwater is smaller with black above and white below):

 

 

 

 

 

Adult Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) with a fish...

 

and a juvenile Atlantic Puffin:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Immature Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)...

 

and an adult kittiwake flying by an iceberg at the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon:

 

 

 

 

 Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) in Reykjavík.

 

 

 

 

Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) soaring on updrafts along the cliffs. 

 

 

Great Skua (Stercorarius skua) high above the harbor on Heimaey.

 

 

Arctic Terns (Sterna paradisaea)

It was fun to see some familiar faces in a new setting — many of these species can also be seen off Bodega Head — as well as some species I haven't seen in a while (e.g., Atlantic Puffin, Black-headed Gull, and Great Skua).

Re-terning with fish!

Manu-o-Kū, or White Tern (Gygis alba) chick, photographed in Honolulu, O’ahu, on 30 March 2024.

We watched as a parent came in with a bill full of fish to feed the young chick:

So grateful to spend a little time with these beautiful terns!

Mahalo to Beth for showing us so many of the wonders of O’ahu!

Update about NHBH e-mail service

  

This is a quick note to let everyone know that I'm transitioning to a different e-mail service for the Natural History of Bodega Head blog post e-mail messages.  

If you subscribed to the e-mail service before last summer, you have been receiving messages from Google (Feedburner).  However, that service has been discontinued (although I know some of you have still been receiving occasional messages). Soon you will no longer receive messages from Google.  

The new e-mail service is called follow.it.  If you have signed up to receive blog posts in the past, then you might see a banner at the top of the new e-mail messages explaining that I have transferred subscribers to the new follow.it service.  This is a legitimate message.  You can click on a link to confirm you'd still like to receive e-mails from the Natural History of Bodega Head.  Or you can also decline if you no longer want to receive these e-mails.

Also, if you know anyone who tried to subscribe during the past year and wasn't successful, the good news is that you can direct them to the bottom of the main NHBH web page where the subscription form is now functional.

I apologize for the issues with the e-mail service during the past year.  I'm hopeful that this will be a workable solution.  Thanks again for your interest in the Natural History of Bodega Head!

P.S.  The photo shows an Elegant Tern...because I'm turning the page to a new service!  :)

Wingspan

  

I've been busy with some indoor projects this week, but here's a nice Caspian Tern photographed back in August.

Pink flush

There have been large flocks of Elegant Terns in Bodega Harbor recently, and it's been easy to hear them calling along the outer coast of Bodega Head.

I stopped to take a few quick photos near Gaffney Point today (3 September 2020):

Note the pink flush on the underparts (more noticeable under overcast skies):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S.  Back in 2012 I posted a recording of Elegant Terns calling in Tomales Bay.  If you want to hear an example of their calls, you can check out that recording here.

 

Two nights

Last night (21 August 2020), a crescent moon in a smoky sky:

 

Tonight (22 August 2020), terns on the tidal flats in Bodega Harbor: 

 

 

 

In turn, a group of five Elegant Terns (Thalasseus elegans); next, two Elegant Terns and two Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia); last, close-up of a Caspian Tern with fish (can you help with the fish i.d.?) caught near the Spud Point Marina.

In on the fun

During the last few days, there have been large schools of bait fish near shore.  The last time this happened, it turned out to be Night Smelt (Spirinchus starksi), e.g., see these posts from August 2018 — "Getting into a good school?" and "Fish, fish, fish!".  I haven't been able to identify the fish yet this time, but I started reviewing my photos from 1 August 2020 and there were some fun ones:

 

 

 

 

 

In order of appearance: Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) and Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia) with fish...then Heermann's Gulls (Larus heermanni) chasing a tern (trying to make the tern drop the fish) and finally a Heermann's Gull trying to pull a fish out of a pelican's pouch.  More photos to come!

 

Heading north?

 

Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia) in Bodega Harbor. [You can click on the image for a larger version.]  I learned something about Caspian Terns tonight.  I read that their farthest north breeding colony is on Neragon Island in the Bering Sea near Cape Romanzof, Alaska.  I hadn't known they nested that far north!  

Romanzof sounded familiar, and I realized there was a connection to Bodega Bay.  When Russians settled in Bodega Bay in the early 1800s, they referred to Bodega Bay as Port Rumyantsev.  Bodega Bay was one of the southernmost Russian outposts, so the Russian name for this area connects us to the northernmost breeding site for Caspian Terns.  Both were named after a Russian count — Count Nikolai Petrovich Rumyantsev.  His name turns up in many places, e.g., another example is one of our local orchids, Spiranthes romanzoffiana.  (Rumyantsev and Romanzof are versions of the same name.)

Resting on a sandbar

At the end of our shorebird survey last week, I heard an interesting call note and looked across to a distant sandbar to see a small group of Forster's Terns (Sterna forsteri) roosting with some gulls (primarily Mew Gulls).  The light was nice, so I took a few photos for the record:

 

 

 

It feels like it's hardly ever this calm in Bodega Bay, but the reflections show how little wind there was at this time.  Photos take on 31 January 2020.

Translucent

 

Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea), offshore near Bodega Canyon/Cordell Bank, 22 September 2019

 

Resting in the harbor

 

It's been a busy time, but here's a photo of a Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri) from Bodega Harbor on 18 August 2018.  Note the rusty tones on the forehead, back, and wing feathers, indicating that this is an immature bird.

Re-terning?

Another windy day — 30 knot NW winds, with 40 knot gusts this afternoon — and another nice view of Forster's Terns (Sterna forsteri) in Bodega Harbor.  I noticed a flock near Porto Bodega on my way to the post office mid-day.  [Click on the photos for larger versions.]

 

 

A few terns came in to land on the pilings next to the parking area: