In search of wind-blown terns
New York, NY
Friday 27 May 2022
60 °F
On saturday morning, at the advice of an extremely knowledgeable local birder, Andrew F, I made my way back down to the Hudson riverfront (this time at 125th St in Harlem) to see if any lingering Arctic Terns were moving up or down the river. Terns were sighted into dusk last night, and far upriver, so I was hopeful I’d be able to snag a view trying to make their way back to the Atlantic. Upon arrival, I had a flyover LAUGHING GULL which is a decent bird for this far upstream:
And I saw this immature DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT that look like it had literally bit off more than it could chew. It struggled with this plus-sized fish for a few minutes:
As an adult watched in, probably in amusement:
Unfortunately, no terns of any species were sighted on saturday. So I tried again Sunday as some Arctic Terns were sighted flying up and down the river on saturday by others! Again, I was greeted by a Laughing Gull:
RING-BILLED GULL in front of the New Jersey shore:
For a third day in a row, I struck out, despite probably 7+ hours of thorough riverwatching. Well, you win some, you lose some I guess, and Arctic Tern wouldn’t have been a life bird — just a northern hemispheric life bird! 
One consolation was the beautiful Flower Moon lunar eclipse to which Tian and I were treated in the evening:
Bird-of-the-weekend goes to the funny Double-crested Cormorant, I guess, since the Arctic Terns did not want to cooperate for me.
Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1130 Species
