We have a current head count of 485 total nests. This is our third highest total ever, and just under last year. Chicks seem to be everywhere, and the number of fledglings must be hard to count. That, and the fact that that they move away soon after they get their flight strength up, makes for a tough count with only once a week visits. I heard some least terns yesterday at the mouth of San Juan Creek at Doheny State Beach. Both adults and juveniles were presents. No bands. They could have been from Huntington. Many have made notes on seeing GBH inside and outside the colony area. They have been shooed out by docents and the tern colony. Yesterday I saw two juvies and an adult in the pond next to the river jetty rocks, and then later heard a story of a GBH eating a tern chick on Base Camp Pendleton. Keep your eyes peeled for possible predation. The Base has also had the northern most recorded predation by Gull-billed Terns this season. Although this species has occurred in Orange County, there have been no recorded tern or plover predation events recorded. Please be on the look out for this potential rare bird as predator. Southern San Diego has had problems over the last few years. —David Pryor

Gull-billed Terns in Texas