Black Terns

During yesterday's turtle patrol at Ft. Pickens, I saw more Least Terns than I've ever seen in a colony before...except I later found out they are NOT Least Terns! In questioning the Park's Biologist, Mark Nicholas, I discovered these are Black Terns which migrate through each year, stay a few days on our beach, then continue across the Gulf of Mexico toward the northern coast of South America.


There were hundreds of them stretching far in the distance, from the vegetation line all the way to the shoreline. I had to creep along in order not to flush them, but what an amazing sight.