Started my "Residency" at Quonnie Breachway this morning. Last year we called them "Office Hours" but I wasn't retired. This year it entails @3-5 days a week of morning beach sit on the point with the birds. June is a good month to start, because there isn't much else going on.
After today I think it is a great time to start because I spotted a rarity. I noticed these two terns in a bit of a sky skirmish and they didn't look like the same species. They landed on separate buoys and sat around for awhile. The bill on the far one was big and orange -- it did not look Common.
Just then Tim Metcalf (a fellow birder) showed up and he ID'd it as a Royal Tern -- a new one for my RI life list and of course 2021 too. He very efficiently took some photos and sent them off to two other birders who agreed it was a Royal Tern. That bird sat on the buoy for @30 minutes until another birder showed up -- she left the point and the bird was flying. It did settle back on the buoy before I left, but I'm told they move a lot, so who knows if it is still there now.
It was the perfect day to launch the "Residency". I love it when other birders show up to share a lovely birding moment.
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