Date: 9/2/25 11:44 am From: <lehman.paul...> via groups.io <lehman.paul...> Subject: [SanDiegoRegionBirding] 220 Common Terns
As many folks know, Common Tern numbers in many parts of CA have declined over the past decades, from routinely greater numbers, including onshore, recorded through the 1970s or 1980s. There are several very high counts in San Diego County, however, in the four digits between mid-Aug and early Oct during the early 2000s, though not since about 2007. Since then, there are only a couple three-digit counts, and perhaps none of those since 2009. So today's (2 Sep) count of 220 Common Terns first thing in the morning at the Salt Works was encouraging. I counted the birds multiple times, as they roosted with about a thousand Elegant Terns on a drawn-down Pond 20, east of 13th Street. Over the first 45+ minutes after dawn, sub-groups of terns would get up and leave, and after an hour there were no Commons remaining (and only a relatively few Elegants).
Otherwise, shorebird quality was disappointing, given the overall numbers of birds, with just 5 Lesser Yellowlegs.
The pond perhaps has just one day remaining before it gets too dry, followed by their filling it back up again.
Paul Lehman, San Diego
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group.
View/Reply Online (#17041): https://groups.io/g/SanDiegoRegionBirding/message/17041 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/115032283/858290 -=-=-
---
The monthly meetings of San Diego Field Ornithologists (SDFO) are currently virtual, open only to members, at 6pm on the third Tuesday of every month.
