Common Tern and Black Tern at Winsor Dam

 Common Tern, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 5, 2020

Common Tern, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 5, 2020

Common Tern, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 5, 2020

Common Tern, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 5, 2020

Common Tern, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 5, 2020

Common Tern and Double crested Cormorants, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 5, 2020

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 5, 2020

Although getting a bit late for many migrants at this point, the weather set up overnight into this morning held some promise with southerly winds and rain showers and possibly storms forecast to arrive before dawn. I got up and headed over to Winsor Dam at dawn with some light rain still falling down. Unfortunately the low clouds and fog made viewing anything on the water impossible. I decided to try a couple nearby spots before returning to the the dam once the viewing conditions improved. The rain stopped a little after six and I made it back to the dam around 6:20. The fog was still hanging in but some areas of the water could be seen and almost immediately I noticed a bird sitting on the orange buoy (few birds ever sit on this small buoy so I was hopeful for something good). I set up the scope and found the bird to be a sterna species tern (either a Common Tern, Arctic Tern or Forster’s Tern). I quickly eliminated Forster’s Tern but the viewing conditions made it tough to pin down the ID initially. This late in the migration season the chances of either of the two remaining species showing up is about the same. I have personally had just one previous record of Common Tern in June in Hampshire County and that was at the Oxbow in Northampton in 2013.  As I was studying the bird I was leaning toward an ID of Common Tern but still wanted to see the bird a bit better (and hopefully in flight). As I was scanning around the rest of the water I noticed another tern in flight which I quickly identified as a Black Tern...another great tern for the county. I watched it for a bit as it worked north and eventually went out of sight. I tried for a photo though the scope but the distance and fog was just too much to overcome for anything beyond a smudge. I returned to watching the other tern still sitting on the buoy and watched as a couple of Double crested Cormorants cruised by. The tern didn’t seem bothered by them when they swam by initially but when they returned back close to the buoy the tern flushed and started flying north. The tern continued north and out of view but after ten minutes or so it returned and at this point I was able to get some better in flight views as well as photos. Review of the photos looked to place this clearly in the Common Tern category and others that took a look at the photos agreed. Yet another great morning at Winsor Dam with two unusual tern species in one morning...not something that occurs too often around here (except for perhaps when a hurricane rolls through)

On the subjects of hurricanes, this season is off to a record setting start with three named storms already with Tropical Storm Cristobal moving back into the Gulf of Mexico today with a landfall likely this weekend in Louisiana likely as a tropical storm. The hurricane season is predicted to be active with an above normal number of storms. Time will tell if any of those storms will impact this area but I will certainly be watching intently.

More details on hurricane related birds in the area can be found at the following link:
History of tropical storm related birds in western Massachusetts