Common-tern nest tally hits record high

CLAYTON — Nearly 1,000 common-tern nests were found along the St. Lawrence River this year, which is a record high.

"It's been a wonderful year," said ornithologist Lee H. Harper, Massena, who initiated the regional tern habitat restoration project in 1991.

Volunteers from various groups along the St. Lawrence River discovered a total of 996 nests during the peak nesting period, up by more than 16 percent from the previous record of 854 in 2009.

"Restoring common-tern habitats is a lot of work, and I very much appreciate the work of the organizations and volunteers that continue to help maintain and restore tern nesting grounds on the river," Mr. Harper said.

Common terns, which are on the state Department of Environmental Conservation's threatened-species list, are about 14 inches long and have a 30-inch wingspan. Although these small migrating birds defend their colonies fiercely, they are no match for larger predators such as gulls, geese, herons and osprey.

In the Thousand Islands region, volunteers with Save the River, an environmental group in Clayton, and the Thousand Islands Land Trust each year install nesting shelters and set up wired grids, which prevent larger birds from setting down while allowing the smaller terns to land and roost on islands to give terns a better chance of survival.

The "gull-exclusion" grids usually are put up in April and taken down in August.

"I saw an article in the newspaper about two weeks ago that they were looking for volunteers. I'm intending to become an environmentalist and I was interested in connecting with like-minded people in the area," said Kevin M. Yard, 49, a summer resident of Clayton who was removing the exclusion grids Tuesday on Eagle Wings Shoal, just off Bartlett Point in Clayton, and Tidd Island with several other volunteers.

Volunteers also count the number of nests and tern chicks in May and June to keep track of the area's tern population.

Jennifer J. Caddick, executive director of Save the River, said about seven volunteers from the environmental group spend two or three hours a week for about two months monitoring the nesting colonies.

While it sounds easy, monitoring can be an "icky job," she said.

Although the volunteers mean no harm, adult terns attack the "intruders" with their beaks and by dropping excrement on them, Ms. Caddick said.

"I don't really mind, because you could always wash up later. But, yes, you do get pooped on," said James McGarry, a volunteer from Ithaca who has been taking care of a tern colony for two years. "Before you step into a tern colony, you should wear a big-brimmed hat and long sleeves."

For more information about the tern habitat restoration program, call the Thousand Islands Land Trust at 686-5345 or Save the River at 686-2010.