On 7/12/2025 4:35 PM, <lehman.paul...> via groups.io wrote: > Now 4:30 PM, and just before posting this message, Matt S. re-found > the bird flying around Pond 12, still hopelessly far for viewing from > public sites (see below), but now truly confirmed as a White-winged > Tern. More photos will be posted later. > > > > > > Back on Weds., July 9th, I found a bacic-plumaged (one-year-old) > "Black Tern" on Chula Vista Wildlife Area property as viewed VERY > distantly from the west end of the J Street/Marina Parkway parking > lot. At the time, the bird was clearly a Black-type Tern in basic > plumage, but even with good light (mid-morning, marine overcast), I > struggled initially with the ID because the bird did not appear to > show a dark shoulder spur down onto the upper sides of the breast. So, > I waited for the bird to fly and saw a whitish rump in some lights. > These two characters favor White-winged Tern, a Eurasian species with > two previous California records from HUM and MTY in the late 1990s. > But then I also saw a dusky upper surface of the tail and a darker > leading edge to the folded wing at rest, characters I thought favored > Black Tern. So, I ended up calling it a Black and chalked up some > alternate cues as being partly due to the long distance involved. > Basically, I was scoping from J Street across the entire cove of the > Bay to the SW, to the peninsula edge to the right of where the Osprey > nest pole is and the general area where the Gray-tailed Tattler was > several years ago. The bird has been looked for again several times > since then on a couple days by me and others from J Street but with no > success. > > > Before I go any further, because what follows involves the Salt Works > and National Wildlife Refuge property, know that the Salt Works and > surrounding salt marsh are very much off-limits at this time of year > to the public because of the nesting Snowy Plovers and mass of nesting > terns (something over 35,000 nests of Elegant Terns this year!, not to > mention plenty of Royals, Forster's, Leasts, and Skimmers). So there > is NO WAY anyone should attempt to get inside on their own. And > clearly do not go past any wildlife refuge "no entry" signs. Expect to > be cited or arrested. > > > Fast forward to today, and Matt Sadowski and Robert Patton are doing > their tern and plover work inside the Salt Works, and they find this > basic-plumaged tern, along with a new breeding-plumaged Black Tern, > frequenting the area of Pond 12 during the late morning and early > afternoon--right after the marine layer retreated, the sun came out, > and the glare increased. The two birds were mostly at the opposite > (east) end of Pond 12 from where they were, partly smothered in > Elegant Terns and very distant and harshly lit. Both observers were > thinking probable Black Tern on the basic bird (e.g., didn't see an > obvious pale rump). But at one point the two birds flew to their end > of the pond, and Matt got a series of photos looking up at the bird in > question. He then shared that photo with me. We, and others, were both > struck by the total lack of the shoulder bar, clean white underparts, > and a potentially paler crown than a Black Tern shows, but other > characters were not visible, and the bill length perhaps fit Black > Tern OK. I then shared the one photo with several out-of-state folks > with good White-winged Tern experience....and voila, they think it is > indeed a White-winged Tern. Based on the one photo. > > > Pond 12 is the pond north of Pond 23, the Little Stint pond. One can > scope Pond 12 from the end of 11th, 10th, and 8th, and from the end of > the peninsula that sticks out from the south end of the Biological > Study Area parking lot on the Silver Strand. But even with a good > scope and doing so in the morning with a marine layer so good light > and with minimal distortion, it is still a very, very long ways away. > One can ID Black Terns flying around that pond, as we did several > years ago. But being able to tell a basic-plumaged White-winged Tern > from a basic-plumaged Black Tern at that distance would be impossible. > Unless, perhaps the bird comes to the WEST end of Pond 12, and then > being at the end of 8th or off the study area parking lot peninsula > MIGHT work. Or......hope that at some point it returns to where I > first saw it on July 9th, southwest of J Street, or perhaps get > extremely lucky and get it even on the J Street mudflats proper, but > that hasn't yet worked out. > > > What would presumably be the best course of action is have people > spread out at all three or four of these sites (J Street, 11th, 10th, > 8th, off study area parking), and then if someone carefully assesses > that the bird is truly visible, then immediately send out that news on > the What's App group AND on this listserv, so that folks nearby can > make a bee-line..... But, to be honest, this situation is fraught with > the distinct possibilities of faulty claims, all the mass of somewhat > similar-looking birds present, desperation-mode setting in to see the > bird, etc. etc. So, PLEASE everyone be really, really, really, careful > with one's reports. If you do find the easier-to-see breeding-plumaged > Black Tern, then carefully study any nearby birds, and do report just > the Black, as that is a possible good starting point. > > > Once there is an eBird or other link set up later today where Matt's > photos can be viewed, we will post news of that site. > > > --Paul Lehman, San Diego >
