White-winged Tern Visit Continues

Saturday, August 12. Our celebrity white-winged tern continues to delight birders from all over the country by the score (I counted 125 signatures in the log book, but I know a lot of people did not sign it). We have had visitors from, of course, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Florida, Texas, and even Ontario. Of course, how often do you get to see the rarest bird in America? The tern looked pretty good his first couple of days here despite the cloudy weather, but with the sky opening up and the sun shining, he looked absolutely spectacular. There was some concern about his health yesterday, because he seemed listless and didn't hunt for food very much, but I think he made up for it today, making numerous forays around the lake. He was observed catching fish at least three different times. He also moved to the other side of the lake when a storm front came through and seemed reluctant to come back, but he did return after we asked the observers to move back from the pilings and give him more space. Nevertheless, he may prefer the dam side, since the fishing appears to be better over there. Since it is a small lake, he can still be seen, but his occupation of the pilings provided more rewarding views. More tomorrow.