More Terns - Least Terns renesting and courting

On August 9th I went on a whale watching/birdwatching trip out of Newburyport, MA. We didn't see many birds, nor many whales. On the way out we passed a beach. The air was shimmering in the heat. I focused my camera on a tern as a couple of beach goers and their dog were walking by

We passed the breakwater at the mouth of the Merrimack River. Terns and Ruddy Turnstones were lounging and preening on the rocks.

Roseate Terns

Roseate Terns

Out in the open water on our way to the Southeastern edge of Jeffrey's Ledge we encountered a Minke Whale and a Right Whale , unusual in this location - they are ornery animals; there was a report from South Africa a couple of weeks ago that a Right Whale breached on a sailboat; luckily no one was hurt. We stayed at the safe required distance of 500 ft.

We also encountered isolated Wilson's Storm-Petrels, several  Northern Gannets and Great Shearwaters (no longer "Greater")

Adult Northern Gannet

Great Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Great Shearwater

We returned to port at 4:30 PM. I didn't want to get stuck in the rush hour traffic around Boston and decided to head out to Plum Island. I parked at Sandy Point and walked to the tip of the peninsula. It was low tide. As soon as I skirted the roped-off area off the beach I was being dive-bombed by irate Least Terns, defending their territory. I had to raise my arm to ward them off and saw one coming pretty close squirting white poop at me. Fortunately it missed. This kind of behavior seems to be universal in the animal world  - I guess  it's  the ultimate insult. I retreated a few paces and after a while they left me alone.

I took photos of a tern settling down in the sand. When I looked at  them at home I saw that it was settling down on a couple of eggs. Here is a sequence of shots:

Tern settling on speckled eggs

                          

This is quoting from Cornell's Birds of North America site: "Renesting commonly follows nest or chick loss; up to 3 nests/season. Least Terns display second wave of nesting, involving birds that have lost clutches in the same colonies, renesting birds from other colonies, or younger birds (2–3 yr old) that are breeding for first time (Massey and Atwood 1981).
These late-nesting birds usually insert themselves within existing colony, selecting sites used by earlier pairs or areas with little or no prior use (Massey and Atwood 1981)."

I also observed courting behavior with the male presenting a small fish to the female. I didn't actually see the female accepting the fish.

I also saw several Piping Plovers in the same area, but did not take any photos since I already had so many from my previous trip. I did not look for the Scissored-tailed Flycatcher, although I saw a couple of birders in the distance who apparently were. It was getting late, time for me to drive home.

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Least Terns, Common Terns, Sanderlings.... Fall migration getting on the way!

Part II of my early morning visit to Sandy Point on Plum Island last Sunday. 

Least Terns, the smallest of terns, fiercely protective of their young on the ground., were swooping around and screeching  above me as I walked near their territory, whereas the Piping Plovers were paying little attention to me..  Least Terns share the same nesting habits with them, although more adaptable and therefore less in need of protection as they also nest on all kinds of sandy spots, alkaline flats and even gravel roofs.

The juveniles waited quietly on the beach to be fed. I didn't want to disturb the parents too much; so I kept my distance.

 

Common Terns were less disturbed by my presence. Many were carrying  food in their beaks, although I didn't see any juveniles. Maybe they were just looking for a peaceful spot to devour their prey which they may have just stolen from other terns. They are very proficient klepto-parasites.

The presence of Sanderlings shows that fall migration has begun. They, along with Semipalmated Sandpipers, breed in the high artic and migrate south in mid summer. I only saw a few at this visit, all adults with the rust red head and neck. Until now I had only seen Sanderlings in their mostly gray and white non-breeding plumage on my previous visits later in the fall.

This solitary Short-billed Dowitcher was feeding in a shallow lagoon along with semipalmated plovers and sandpipers. It's migrating from subartic Canada to its wintering grounds which extend from southeastern US to the West Indies, Venezuela and Brazil and starts in late June

Here is another fall migrant. If the bird hadn't stretched its wing I would have had a difficult time identifying it as a Black-bellied Plover, but the dark axillaries gave it away. It's either a non-breeding adult or a juvenile but hard to tell from this distance.

It's a fairly large bird as can be seen here in comparison to the Semipalmated Sandpiper behind it.

Off shore was a flock of gulls, mostly Bonaparte's, adults and juvies. (I am correcting an earlier statement that this was a Black-head Gull - an expert ornithologist set me right.) 

Looking at this Great Black-backed Gull I decided it was time to break for  lunch.

Coming in Part III:  Eastern Towhees and Purple Martins.

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