ML623018025

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Observation details

Today I was the recipient of a rare treat. I saw 24x Forster's Terns on the Boardwalk! I got to watch them and listen to them at close range for half an hour before they dispersed. I studied the Terns carefully and took lots of pictures to see if any might be rarities like the similar-sized Common or Arctic Terns. The only thing that struck me as peculiar is that a few of today's terns had dark legs. One had jet black legs. My copy of Sibley shows Fresh juvenile, Worn juvenile, 1st year, Adult nonbreeding, and Adult breeding, *all* of them with orange legs. 1st year and adult nonbreeding Common Terns have black legs, so I wondered if today's black-legged terns might be Common. In the end I concluded that they were all Forster's. No evidence of the dark carpal-bar. I searched the Cornell photo library (restricting my search to California and the month of August) for examples of FOTE with black legs. I had to scroll through many dozens of pictures before I found an example, which I initially attached here as a Field note, but I removed it at the request of the reviewer. See attached slides for additional remarks.

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1.22 MB