Yippee! I salute both the terms and the Duane! Sent from my iPhone
> On May 16, 2016, at 2:19 PM, Duane Nelson <[email protected]> wrote: > > Birders, > > I observed two Least Terns at Lake Hasty today, May 16th, only one day later > than their usual arrival date of May 15th. Lake Hasty is a staging area for > Least Terns most years, but it contains no nesting habitat. In past years, > their arrival would have been no big deal, but they have become increasingly > rare as nesting species in the state, and even their continued existence here > is far from assured. They are strongly drawn to island habitat free of > terrestrial predators. From a high of 32 pairs statewide in the 1990s, they > gradually dropped to 12 nesting pairs in 2012. Enough young survived to > sustain a nesting population, but nesting was not as successful as in the > 1990s, a period when island habitat allowed the production of up to 46 > fledged young in the best year. > > Nesting has largely been confined to mainland nesting sites for the past 15 > years, and their colonial nesting preference has meant that if predators > found one mainland nest, they often found them all. > > In 2013, the population crashed. Only two pairs of Least Terns nested > statewide (both unsuccessful). By 2014, only one pair nested (unsuccessful). > 2015 was even worse. One pair hung around until June waiting for water > recede, but water rose well into July with our historic flooding last year > and, for the first time since they were discovered nesting in the 1970s, no > pairs nested in Colorado. > > Floods last summer raised water levels and improved the fishery for the > minnows the birds feed on. At high water levels, multiple islands exist > offshore, and these were historic nesting areas. Habitat work controlled the > vegetation that encroached for the past 15 years, and several islands now > have suitable nesting habitat, free of both vegetation and terrestrial > predators. Least Terns finally have multiple secure places to nest this year, > but adult birds no longer come to Colorado in their former numbers. Having > even one pair back is a good sign, and hopefully, more will follow. > > If nesting ensues, I will be willing to provide the same kind of guided > access I have used to show people Piping Plovers. I don't have a problem with > people reporting them fishing on Lake Hasty, where they won't nest. > > Duane Nelson > > Las Animas, Bent County, CO > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/38dc8a9d-7ed6-038c-93ca-d9e1374ff4d7%40centurytel.net. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/F68CE590-13CC-4CA4-BEA9-7EA5C90E33C3%40aol.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
