Items of disturbance to the colony:

Prank: A large cardboard/plastic 4 ft Dodo bird cut-out was firmly planted in the front yard, close to the chain link fence which means that the person/s who placed it had to walk through the nesting area, most certainly disturbing the terns. Hopefully, there were no abandoned nests or crushed eggs due to this prank. It was removed by the USFWS inside monitors.

Helicopters: Helos from local police, military, and private companies continue to fly over and disturb the colony. Requests to avoid the immediate area have been made to local PDs, but control of all fly-overs is difficult and probably not possible. There were 6 fly-overs in one hour on 6/27 reported by USFWS. Please continue to note the fly-overs and any other disturbances you observe on your daily observation sheets. And, watch for fledglings--they are so beautiful!

Note: More fledglings should be seen soon. The dodo sign is out of the front yard, pulled by the USFWS biologist. It was some sort of prank anchored securely in the sand.

The Preserve is in full swing. This morning's walk showed many mid sized chicks in the front yards. Its a noisy, busy place, and the adults are closely guarding the perimeter.

For those who have not, please pick up your name badge at the Magnolia kiosk, and wear it each time you tour the Preserve.

—David Pryor

Photos-Enjoy! One of our monitors, Robert Harrington, is a photographer and has posted some great photos of the terns at a special section of his online gallery at the following link, including some in portlandica plumage. He also included a link to the Sea and Sage website. Thank you, Robert! http://robert-harrington.com/photos/070627huntington/

Portlandica plumage: The terns that appear to be in basic plumage are most likely 2nd year birds (hatch year is 1st year) in their first alternate plumage that is variable in appearance and may be intermediate between Basic I and Definitive Alternate. They are referred to as portlandica. According to Birds of North America Online, "Any Least Tern observed near U.S. breeding grounds and characterized by a well-defined black eye-stripe, dark bar on leading edge of wing, dark gray inner primaries, black bill, and absence of scaliness or buffy coloration in back or wings may safely assumed to be in portlandica plumage."

Thank you all for helping the terns! Please email me with anything of interest, on topic, to share with the group. —Cheryl Egger