August 13 - Bridled Tern on Great Gull Island

This evening, shortly before sunset, Catherine Neal told me she had a very beautiful bird down by the dock out here on Great Gull Island, but she didn't know what it was. I grabbed my camera in case it was something I should get a picture of. At the end of the dock Catherine had a spotting scope set up aimed back at the rocks to the west of the dock. She looked through it and said the strange bird was still there. I looked through the scope and my first thought was "Sooty Tern!", followed immediately by an unprintable exclamation as I realized it was a Bridled Tern! Not only is this new for my New York State list (#420), but it is new for my U.S. list. Everyone got to see the bird and Cathrine went back down the dock to let Helen Hays know. Helen was in the new dock blind observing. When Helen didn't come out onto the dock I headed back to the blind to call up to her. She said she was getting good views of the bird from there. I joined her in the blind and got some nice photos. I will put some on my Facebook page and will add some here when I figure out how to upload here from my iPad.

adult Bridled Tern - August 13, 2016