Notes about your surroundings

More on Terns--The ornithologist who is tracking the terns that nest at Bolsa Chica has come up with some preliminary numbers on the current season. The numbers confirm the observations of some that the season is progressing well despite problems with predators late in May.

“In general, they look pretty good,” said Charles Collins, of Cal State Long Beach. The endangered California least tern, which nests on the south island in the wetlands preserve, was hard hit, first by a fox, which ate eggs, and then by a kestrel, a small hawk species which ate hatched young. Predation problems seem to have eased, although it’s unclear whether the kestrel is still active.

In the most encouraging news, Collins reported that many of the least terns that lost eggs or young early in the season re-nested and laid new eggs.

Other tern species, which nest on the north island, are having another strong season. The black skimmers are still nesting, but 330 nesting pairs were recorded in the most recent survey, compared to 370 last season.

Elegant terns, with about 1,200 pairs, are down slightly from last season, but Caspian terns, with 270 pairs, and Forster’s terns, at 180 pairs, are both running ahead of last season. In just a decade, Bolsa Chica has become a haven for several tern species that hadn’t nested this far north in decades past.

Final figures for this season will be released later this month.