Arctic Tern at Prewitt = Common Tern

[Steven Mlodinow]

Greetings All

It terns out, I mean, turns out that I goofed up, to put it mildly. The tern that I ID'd as an Arctic was initially assumed (not just by me, but by several folks more expert that I consulted) to be a one-year old bird (known as Portlandica among terns). Though the head/bill suggested Common Tern, the plumage was very much Arctic for this age. Peter Pyle and I were discussing this apparent contradiction, and I asked if this could be a first year tern. His reply was "Of course, and unusually worn young COTE could appear this way." So... no Arctic Tern but an aberrant Common Tern born this year that has already lost all traces of its juvenile state.

First of four pics on Flickr can be seen at 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/36088296@N08/15061260581/

Good Birding

Steve M

ps - Glenn, you were right.