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March 2011

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From:
Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 9 Mar 2011 09:28:47 -0500
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        It seems the royal tern at Hoover was not found yesterday, but it may
not be gone. The brief history of this species in Ohio involves a bird
found by Tom LePage at Lorain on 7/8/1995, and refound there by others
7/20-21 then again on 7/26. At Conneaut on 8/17/1995, 22 days later, a
royal tern was seen; a common-sense decision deemed this the same
individual, which was presumably roaming the Lakefront. Maybe looking
for a way out.
        When first found, the bird was associating with Caspian terns in the
harbor. Caspians are not known to breed in Ohio, but they do so not far
away, and the smaller number of them around in early July grew till as
many as 47 were seen there on 8/9/95. I don't know the circumstances at
Conneaut, but likely some Caspians were around. It seems reasonable that
the presence of another large tern species (with whom it shares the
winter beaches of the Gulf) may have kept this one around for a while.
Imagine yourself in one of those Star Wars bar scenes, where you might
naturally gravitate to two-legged beings with hair on their heads even
if they have three eyes. Which may be why the tern, faute de mieux,
hangs out with ring-billed gulls.
        Anyway, this is now no longer a singular event. I don't know what might
have brought the first one here; it could have been violent weather,
such as one might conclude brought the 2011 bird. The first bird did not
have a full black cap, but adult royals sport this only for a relatively
short period early in the breeding season. Our bird seems to be molting
into that plumage, so may be looking for a mate and not finding one.
This is a marine species that would also be less than happy in a narrow
sweet-water reservoir. It has been observed eating gizzard shad, though,
so one hopes nutrition is not a problem in the short term.
        I don't recall seeing many, if any, reports of this bird much north of
Walnut St., hence only in the lower mile of the reservoir; there are 5
or so miles north of that, and many stretches are hard to scan because
of private property restrictions. Only in a boat could one do a thorough
search. One does hope this bird would have the sense to head south, however.
        This is fresh water with no tides or wide horizons, the food is odd,
the weather sucks, and there are no other terns around, even Caspians
(there will be in the next 2-3 weeks; though they are only uncommon
here, they are usually the first terns to arrive here). We all would
like to see this bird survive to propagate its own kind in its native
habitat. We have no idea what happened to the 1995 bird, except at some
point reports stopped without it having been seen away from Lake Erie.
Unless our bird dies, if Hoover has not been a good place even to visit,
it will not linger. The chances of someone finding it on its way to
warmer climes are slim, but real. Observers south of us should be alert
for ANY tern. And a thorough Hoover search conducted by people who know
the water would take only a few hours; this task is a lot easier than
scanning the entire Erie lakefront, after all.
Best of luck to all seekers in this wretched weather,
Bill Whan
Columbus

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