Royalty on the creek

I could hear the call while still in bed early this morning: the first Royal Terns moving up Weesuck Creek. There were two or three Royals at Tiana Beach the other day but this was the first time this year that they were seen and heard on this side of the bay as these big, orange-billed terns reconnoitered up the creek making their characteristic rippling sounds. I expect to see them by the third week in July; in other words. they were right on schedule. Royal Terns breed south of us so, unlike the shorebird migration which started at the beginning of July, this is a 'reverse migration'; the birds move south to north as they spread out along the coast with their newly fledged young looking for fresh fishing grounds.

A rarely seen mammal turned up -- literally -- the other day. It's easy to tell when there are moles around (I'm not talking about the CIA or NKVD variety but the common Eastern garden species) but you only rarely see them above ground. This one, as soon as he saw me, burrowed right back under and disappeared.

I also found Rocky Raccoon on a new daytime perch in one of the surviving oaks near the head of the marsh. His old favorite perch in a big Pitch Pine was lost when Sandy tore off a big branch and eliminated the high crotch which was long his favored sleeping spot.

Eric Salzman