July 29, 2008
Elegant Terns on the Necanicum
There have been reports of ELEGANT TERNS up and down the Oregon Coast for the last two weeks or so. Reports have also come from Grays Harbor in Washington and Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Can you find any Elegant Terns in this photo taken today at the Necanicum Estuary?
It's not easy with all the noise from CASPIAN TERNS and CALIFORNIA GULLS, but they're there.
Elegant Terns are an irruptive species and we don't get to see them this far north every year. It's not completely clear what causes these irruptions though El Niño is most commonly invoked. This is not an El Niño year.
