Vermont Rare Bird Reports 2022

No other observers were present with me.

Fair conditions, clear visibility, and a light breeze.

Swarovski 20-60x.

I've observed this species numerous times, going back as far as 2004, when I lived and worked on Eastern Egg Rock in the Gulf of Maine, which is noteworthy for being a tern colony, as well as the famous colony for Atlantic Puffins. In addition to seeing this species up close on EER, I've also observed this species out to see at a distance on a number of pelagic trips in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The Arctic Tern was discovered on the Connecticut River, resting on an exposed log, along with Canada Geese and Ring-billed Gulls.

The bird was primarily observed resting. However, on several occasions, it was observed in flight, flying briefly upriver and attempting foraging dives (no entry into water) before flying downriver again, only to descend on the exposed log once more. This happened several times in the ten minutes I was present.

None.

From eBird report: "While distant, it was evident this was an Arctic Tern for the following reasons: a Sterna tern with short legs, a full black cap, a dark grayish body, and the hint of a lighter patch on the cheek. The bill and head were small at rest, creating a no-necked appearance. Both in flight and at rest, the tail was long, and the wings appeared all gray with no hint of dark wingtips."

Small to medium-sized tern; much smaller than a Caspian or Royal Tern.

While distant, the bird had a full dark cap and the hint of a lighter patch on the cheek (an artifact of the contrast with the overall body coloration).

The color of bare parts was hard to discern at the distance the bird was observed. However, the legs were short, creating a squat appearance. The bird's bill was relatively short/small as well, helping with the overall small-headed appearance.

The upper back was gray, although, with such bright light conditions, it was hard at times to label it as dark.

Gray/white.

In flight, the wings appeared uniformly gray above with no hint of dark wing tips/wedge on primaries, as you might see on some Common Terns or even young Arctic Terns (tips).

The bird appeared uniformly gray on the body, with a white tail and lower flanks.

The tail was noticeably long as compared to some of the other expected terns for the area, notably Caspian and the more similar Common.

Caspian Tern and Common Tern are the most likely species in the area. Caspian was easily eliminated on size alone. But I also took other features such as the size of the bill and tail into account.

Separating from Common was trickier but confidently done over several minutes. Again, due to distance, the ID came down to structure and behavior more so than the color of bare parts or things like body color.

At a distance, the bird was short-legged and small-headed in appearance. I have observed both Caspian and Common Terns from this exact location in the past, so I have experience with seeing these birds under similar distances and similar conditions. In that, I felt confident in what I observed as the physical structure of the bird.

Then, other factors came into play when the bird was in flight. These included the overall buoyancy of the bird's flight, which aligned with Arctic, the long tail (characteristic of Arctic), and the overall coloration of the wing (noted above).

Based on the bird's coloration and time of year, it was identified as an adult.

While the time of the observation is only about a week past the peak window for Common Terns at this location, it should be noted that it times extremely well with the large inland surge of overland Arctic Terns in New England and New York over the previous two days, which other observers, such as Marshall Iliff, have well described.

Another note is that I was observing the bird from the VT side of the CT River, whereas a large number of observers viewed the bird simultaneously from the NH side at the Hinsdale Setbacks. These observers were in scope view of me during my visit, and the ID of ARTE was independently concluded by these observers as well.