On May 5, 2023, at 9:12 PM, Louisa Evers <elouisa603@…> wrote:

The mud can be quite bad. The soils there have a lot of clay in them so can become quite slippery and sticky.  I suggest staying on the high ground until things dry out.  A lot depends on how much rain we actually get.

On Fri, May 5, 2023 at 10:16 Virginia Rivers <riverscapes@…> wrote:

A general question to IBLE members about Black’s Creek Reservoir.  How bad is the mud after a week or so of rain, as is predicted for our area?

I’m somewhat of a ‘newbie’ to this area, so looking for info to help plan my photo days there.  

Thank you,

Virginia

🌿🌿🌿

On Tue, May 2, 2023 at 8:55 PM John Shortis via groups.io <john_shortis=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:

Hi birders everyone,

Today, Amy Bechtel & I observed a Forster’s Tern swimming at Black’s Creek Reservoir, way over to the left of the entrance in the widest part of the now quite extensive lake. The bird was not feeding, just sitting there on the water.

My question is, I wonder if this swimming habit is particular to this species. Having observed Common & Arctic Terns (or Comic Tens as the British often refer to them collectively), on & off over the last 60 years or so, I have never seen either of these species swimming. Always actively feeding & plunge diving into the water as you would expect from terns.

Can anyone confirm if this is indeed peculiar to the Forster’s Tern? Is it merely their way of resting having completed their migration?

Fun birding,

John Shortis.

—

Louisa Evers

elouisa603@…

Take care of the birds and you take care of the world