ML242316911
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Adult, Unknown sex - 1
Observation details
I first noticed this dark tern from the deep Gulf end of the pier (1000 feet away from the bird) when Bruce Purdy, standing next to me, pointed out a Tricolored Heron toward the shore. The tern was flying loops just above the surf along the shore near the base of the pier around 9:30 AM. I soon saw the bird's whitish forehead against its otherwise dark plumage and called to Bruce that it looked like a noddy. It was an adult, and after about 10 minutes of foraging, it flew under the fishing pier and then landed to rest on the pier nearly at my feet, i.e., 20 feet away and closer to the pier entrance than the end. The bird's bill was long but not longer than the head and didn't seem extraordinarily thin. The bill had a fairly obvious gonydeal angle. The plumage was both blackish and dark grayish-brown depending on light. The bird didn't seem extremely tired and did some preening. Bruce and I briefly concurred it was a Black Noddy, so I submitted that ID to eBird while we watched the bird together. Both of us changed our minds after leaving the beach, me several hours after Bruce. Yesterday's strong easterly winds may have pushed the bird this way. Strong southerly winds this morning may have kept the bird near shore. I returned with Shannon Hobson in the afternoon to find the bird still actively foraging at the base of the pier and landing on the pier every so often. More video with that eBird check-list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S70222497
Technical information
- Camera
- Nikon P1000
- Microphone
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 232.32 MB