Terns - Are They Just Fancier Shytehawks?!

We hear terns outside our apt often, being near the lake. We see them off and on on various hikes that lead to the lake, starting at many entrance points such as Halls Rd., Lynde Shores, Second Marsh, etc. It is kind of cool to see them fly over head and dive for fish. They are lean and streamlined compared to gulls. Very hard little buggers to get shots of because generally we run into them flying, not perching on things. However, on an evening walk down to the harbour in Whitby, mainly to get out and enjoy more refreshing outdoor (and hopefully cooler) air, there were a whole ton of terns compared to our usually spotting of one or 2 here and there among the 300x more prevalent seagulls.

This particular evening, there was a lot of ruckus going on, squawking that sounded not exactly like the terns we are used to hearing but not exactly a seagull. What looked to be hundreds of seagulls out on the spitt that runs parallel to the pier as usual, we soon realized were terns. There were quite a few of them flying around, diving, chasing each other, making quite the noise as they did. There were a lot of little fish jumping so maybe that is why the large amounts of terns around that night. Quite funny to see was the odd tern would do a flyover the group standing together on the spitt which in turn would induce screeching by the ones below at the one flying over with its prize in its mouth.

Terns are difficult so far to get shots of the times I've tried. Probably taking them with a 35 - 70 mm lens as opposed to trying to get them with a 70 - 300 mm lens would make a difference. But anyway, very cool to see them. Funny enough though, the more you see them the more it comes to mind, are they just fancy gulls to most?! lol! Do people find them just as annoying or distasteful? We quite enjoy seeing them and watching them dive for fish. I enjoy taking photos of gulls as really, they can be quite gorgeous, especially in certain light. I have yet to get a good one of a tern though.

Back to Second Marsh

July 2nd, in order to get out and get some exercise again, we decided to head to Second Marsh in Oshawa. It's not too far from us so is handy. Part of the motivation to head there was to possibly spot the Belted Kingfishers again. We did, however, I failed to get a shot of them this time. They flew back and forth, under the bridge, and past us a few times. They were quite noisy this evening and there were 2, probably a male and female.

We also headed further along, towards the dead end of Colonel Sam, to the GM plant, and the lots that one parks to walk into Darlington Provincial Park. We headed onto the paths that lead towards Oshawa Path, towards the lake shoreline and through some glorious and cool forest areas. With the sun setting and its light reaching through open spots of the forest and touching leaves and parts of the path here and there, the views as we walked along were quite stunning! Reaching the open part of the path, on the way back to the car, we saw a most magnificent moon over the distant Lake Ontario with a beautiful landscape in the foreground.

One other reason we wanted to explore that area again was to see if there was much sign left of the devastation a purposely set fire that we had heard about from other conservation enthusiasts recently, had caused earlier this season. There were noticeable burnt pines along the marsh side area but a lot of regrowth seems to have taken place since then, which is good. 

Osprey Near Our Apartment

We had been hearing really close cries of some bird, that definitely is a bird of prey of some sort. Now, last year, it was foxes that we had to figure out what the screeching originated from. This year, apparently, it is Osprey :-) How cool! We had seen them at the pier in Whitby Harbour, flying over head and I managed to get one (mediocre) shot lol! Then, low and behold, my boyfriend goes out in the morn and he texts me, "there's Osprey out here". Wow, they were circling right above the parking lot. So, we figure, There is the source of the sounds! Needless to say, an exciting quick walk the previous evening, netting 2 firsts as sighting goes for us....an Osprey and  House Finch.