[ucbnet] Common tern, airport dike

[tuularose at juno.com]

Eric found a common tern at the SE corner of the airport dike in Provo on
Thursday when he also found the stilt sandpiper. Today (Sat. 9/22/2007 at
11:00 am) the tern was still there hanging around with gulls, avocets and
Forester's terns in the little bit of water and mudflat still left.. You
can see the water through a couple of  gaps in the willows in the corner
where the road turns straight west. When the road turns to go south
again, more water and a better mudflat will be to the east. That is where
the stilt sandpiper was with dowitchers. No luck finding it today. Lots
of avocets, lesser yellowlegs, snipes, a couple of marbled godwits etc. A
few peeps.

The tern is changing into winter plumage and you can see the dark carpal
bar on the wing clearly separating it from the Forester's. It also has
more black left on the back of the head. I have seen one in Utah county
only once before, so a pretty good bird for us.
Happy birding for all  ~  Tuula