Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus) (2)
- Reported Jun 20, 2023 13:35 by Richard Fleming
- Pier 44 Waterfront Garden, Kings, New York
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=40.6757764,-74.018366&ll=40.6757764,-74.018366
- Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S142190867
- Media: 4 Photos
- Comments: "Rare because still early, and in my experience always uncommon to rare inside NY harbor [after taking a look I see that in eBird there are very few Kings County records for any date in the harbor, with a handful from Liberty State Park in NJ and a few up the Hudson etc.]. New for the hotspot. I almost missed these because I was sitting at the end of the pier scoping Staten Island. When I saw them they were already pretty much right over my head, having clearly arrived from somewhere in the direction of NJ, at least based on consistent eastbound direction of travel. From the pier they flew over the warehouses south of Food Bazaar, over the the Ikea/Erie basins, and may have continued east overland. I was pretty sure they were Royals and not Caspians, but this is a thorny duo for me when trying to identify flying birds seen only when they have already practically passed. Gladly the photos are decent enough to confirm, with black on underwing tips restricted to trailing edge of primaries and leading primary feather only, bill more orange than blood-red and clearly showing paler/yellower at tip, not darker/dusky as Caspian. This is my bird #103 for this very small park."
- Reported Jun 20, 2023 13:35 by Richard Fleming
- Pier 44 Waterfront Garden, Kings, New York
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=40.6757764,-74.018366&ll=40.6757764,-74.018366
- Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S142190867
- Media: 4 Photos
- Comments: "Rare because still early, and in my experience always uncommon to rare inside NY harbor [after taking a look I see that in eBird there are very few Kings County records for any date in the harbor, with a handful from Liberty State Park in NJ and a few up the Hudson etc.]. New for the hotspot. I almost missed these because I was sitting at the end of the pier scoping Staten Island. When I saw them they were already pretty much right over my head, having clearly arrived from somewhere in the direction of NJ, at least based on consistent eastbound direction of travel. From the pier they flew over the warehouses south of Food Bazaar, over the the Ikea/Erie basins, and may have continued east overland. I was pretty sure they were Royals and not Caspians, but this is a thorny duo for me when trying to identify flying birds seen only when they have already practically passed. Gladly the photos are decent enough to confirm, with black on underwing tips restricted to trailing edge of primaries and leading primary feather only, bill more orange than blood-red and clearly showing paler/yellower at tip, not darker/dusky as Caspian. This is my bird #103 for this very small park."
"The Journey of a Thousand Miles begins With One Step." --Lao Tzu
