Tuesday, November 19, 2013


http://oystercatchertracking.org/meet-aam-and-26/
This photo reminds of the potential to create a network of people that share an interest in research organisms that co-occur.  Caspian terns have a lot of species that they share a frame with and the network could be exceptionally diverse.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Caspian Tern banding by at Calvin College with the crew of Keith Grasman in 2011



Good times with undergraduates.


Beach Patrol in New Zealand yields a colour ringed Tara Nui or as we'd say in the US a color banded Caspian Tern.  Must figure out who is marking these birds, this is clearly a hatch year bird that did not make it.



A really bad tern of events in 2009 http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/protected_seabird_mowed_down_i.html
Breaking in the New [Tern] Lens by Ingrid Taylar yields a resighting of a marked Caspian Tern http://www.thefreequark.com/2012/05/breaking-in-the-new-tern-lens/ Her blog post has some exceptional photos of Caspian Terns and I am especially impressed with the large salmonid
and the angle of this tern in an early dive
Very interesting New Zealand abstract sculpture of Tara Nui a.k.a. the Caspian Tern. http://www.spiritwrestler.com/catalog/index.php?products_id=3379 I think the over all energy of the big tern is captured, but I don't feel the lines are bound to someone who has actually watched this bird do its dives. Still very compelling, but the contrast of the colors is too much to be exceptional in my view.
This Caspian Tern water color from Sweden has some very simple and compelling style http://alandaltonart.blogspot.com/2010/08/water-colours-hallogarn-31st-july-3rd.html

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Caspian Terns Nesting in Alaska: Prophecy, Serendipity, and Implications for Regional Climate-Related Change by Bob Gill Western Birds 39:97–100, 2008 A photo of discovery in the Caspian Tern world from 7 years ago almost to the day.
Blogger suggests "Caspian Tern In Undignified Flight Pose" but I think it like an Olympian diver in mid drama. Awesome athlete the Caspian Tern. http://featheredphotography.com/blog/2012/04/09/caspian-tern-in-undignified-flight-pose/
It's wiki time on Caspian Terns http://seabird.wikispaces.com/Caspian+Tern

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Notes on the behaviour of Caspian Terns on Lake Opinicon
http://opinicon.wordpress.com/2010/11/19/notes-on-the-behaviour-of-caspian-terns-on-lake-opinicon/
When you see a green chested tern you know it has a story.
Every banded tern can be a story
http://blog.bird-rescue.org/index.php/2012/07/a-tern-up-for-the-books/

Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Field

This essay is not about terns, but it perfectly captures the experience of living with terns in The Field.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

My Sea View: Cleveland Rockwell: Fisherman Driven Ashore


This summer I have started a project to understand the deeper history and natural history of the Columbia River estuary with a special interest in understanding the rise of the world's largest Caspian Tern colony here in the early 1990's. Some early and exciting imagery is by the artist Cleveland Rockwell. Read more about one of the paintings portraying the specific area of Baker Bay and the Washington village of Chinook.

My Sea View: Cleveland Rockwell: Fisherman Driven Ashore: "Another great Cleveland Rockwell painting. I'm pretty convinced that this painting is of the old Chinookville/Chinook Point/McGowan village ..."