I finally saw Royal Terns

 

Sue's photo of yesterday's Royal Tern

   I wrote a long post about Royal Terns for the Ocean State Bird Club so this will be very short. I finally saw a Royal Tern in Rhode Island Friday. Royal Tern has been the toughest species that shows up in Rhode Island every year. I've never seen one one in RI despite seeing them in three other states. See my post "Royal pain in the ass". 

   I went to Quonny on Wednesday after reports all week. I got there early and looked for three hours before I had to leave to meet my friend Sue. That night, one was seen at 6 pm! Thursday morning my friend Barbara Seith saw them but I couldn't go down that day. So Friday I made a pilgrimage to Quonny determined to stay the day if I had to.

   That is exactly what I had to do. I got there at 8:40 am and spent the day staring at the pond. I did have to go into my car for about an hour because of lightning. I also left to get food at 3:15, but other than that I spent the day looking for Royal Terns. My friend Sue came to give me support and an extra set of eyes at 4:15. Around 5 pm a tern showed up that Sue spotted to the north. Sure enough it was a Royal Tern. We took some distant photos. Finally chasing this dam bird was over. As I guessed, my reaction was not of joy, just happy to be finished with this quest. The emotion was the same as finishing wrapping your last Christmas gift. No satisfaction other than you can move on and do something else.