[Tweeters] Parasitic Jaegers & Terns at Dune Peninsula Park in Tacoma

[Marcus Roening via Tweeters]

Hi Tweets, 

While we generally have a couple of dozen Caspian Terns around Commencement Bay, 2 weeks ago this jumped up to as many as 500 birds!  This in turn has caught the interest of Parasitic Jaegers with 3-6 birds seen most days and often quite close chasing the Terns. 

The Caspians are roosting just north of Point Ruston in an area of capped landfill surrounded by fence- it looks like a large asphalt parking lot. Viewing is south from the first hill in Dune Peninsula of Point Defiance Park or north from the paid parking structure of Point Ruston. Today there were 8 of the much smaller Common Terns with hopes of an Arctic Tern (nope) mixed in. As for juvenile Caspians, we only counted four. 

Dune Peninsula is best birded with a scope, but if the tides are shifting, birds can be close enough for binoculars. 

There is also about a 1000 bird flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls that are sometimes off Dune or around the point of Point Defiance in the Narrows. Recently seen among them was a juvenile Little Gull and a Franklin’s Gull. 

Five Mile drive around the Point is now closed to cars due to bluff erosion, but still open for biking and walking. The Gig Harbor viewpoint is often the best for scoping the Bonaparte’s Gull flock, but it is all dictated by the tides and wind direction. 

Good birding, 
Marcus Roening
Tacoma WA