[SBB] Lst Terns A2E, Blk Skimmers A2W

[Matthew Dodder <[[email protected]]>]

All,

Following up on earlier reports of Least Terns near the mouth of 
Stevens Creek, my wife Cricket and I visited the area today at around 
10 am. We parked in the kite flying area lot accessed through the main 
kisosk and walked east across the huge gravel parking area toward 
Crittenden Marsh. We passed over two small bridges, the first going 
over the reed-choked marsh and the second directly over the creek. From 
there we walked north a few hundred yards along the east bank of the 
creek. For those unfamiliar with the area, a large gate and some arcane 
pumping machinery mark the spot from which to watch the second pond. As 
others have observed, glare and shimmer are an issue here.

The sun was already high enough to cause significant shimmer over the 
water and observation without a scope would have been difficult. 
However, we were able to pick out more than 20 (but less than 30) LEAST 
TERNS, which were easily told because of their more rapid, fluttery 
wing beats and noticeably smaller size. Numerous FORSTER'S TERNS were 
also present. Fortunately, one Least Tern foraged close to the levy 
trail and we were able to get wonderful looks at it. A few more minutes 
of watching and another Least Tern flew directly overhead from the 
west, A2W pond. We then saw an adult PEREGRINE FALCON coming to land on 
a power tower behind us and close to 50 Forster's Terns took flight 
after seeing the Falcon. We noticed two larger birds, BLACK SKIMMERS 
among them. After some time, all birds came to rest again while the 
Falcon watched overhead. Sizable groups of LEAST SANDPIPERS were 
present also in areas where mud was exposed, but we did not get a 
count.

Matthew Dodder
http://www.birdguy.net

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