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May 2016

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Tue, 17 May 2016 21:32:58 -0400
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Greetings!

I had some daylight after work, so I decided to check Atwood Lake (Carroll Co) for terns for a couple of different reasons.  One reason was I was a bit miffed about not seeing a Caspian Tern yet in this year in the county in spite of a lot of hours looking at lakes so far, and the other was that when my birding buddies tell me to check for terns on inland lakes when there is rain in the area (Thanks to KEMI and BEMO!) I try my best to heed such advice.  I was not disappointed tonight.

I pulled my car on to a small pull-off on SR 542 on the south side of the lake to scan toward the dam and to the north and immediately saw 2 birds flitting over the water on the north shore near a buoy.  The 2 birds were both Common Terns.  Not long after that I noticed a smaller, darker bird mixing it in with them.  I threw up my scope and was thrilled to see a beautiful Black Tern dipping and diving.  One of the Common Terns looked like it was going to head east up the lake, so I jumped in the car and headed up the road to a nice lakeside pull-off/picnic area off of Downey Rd. to see if the birds were going that way.  The Common Tern must have doubled back, but what I found was a group of 14 Forster’s Terns working that section of the lake, along with many hundreds of swallow species including Cliff, Barn, Tree, a few Bank, some Martins, and Chimney Swifts.  When looking at some of the swallows working insects higher off the water, I saw 3 Common Nighthawks mixed in with the swallows feasting on the bugs, which were likely drawn to the warmth of the lake over the past few cool days.

I have to say that this was one of the best moments that I have experienced yet while birding, at least the times that I have been alone.  Most of my best memories have been standing next to others sharing the joy of seeing nature’s wonder.  There’s something inherently better in that, at least for me.

Get out and check those patches!


Jon Cefus
Carroll Co.  


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