Falkner Island, Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge
Tern sitting on her nest is panting like a dog. Birds cannot sweat. Even if they could feathers allow no surface open to the air. She sticks her tongue out, throat pumping.
I am not panting I am dripping; it’s not enough and I am in the shade.
For the tern no shade at all.
She moves readjusts moves again. I can see the eggs now. Two. Speckled brown with a greenish cast. Broader at the base, each comes to a rounded point. They look… tough. Like they can take it. But not on a day like this out in the sun; not without her body to shield them. Her work, keep her unborn young as close as she can to the temperature they were when they were inside her. She lifts her shoulders to let air in under her wings. And takes the heat. She will not leave the nest, not until her mate comes. Nor will I. Both of us waiting for that Changing of the Guard.
All across Falkner Island terns fly in, those relieved fly out. Sometimes the one on the nest is reluctant. It looks like a matter of trust. Not at all. I’ve seen it many times: Commitment. Too tight to let go.
Endurance and intention don’t always match.
There are limits.
Sometimes a tern leaves the nest alone, a short flight out for the cooling effect of rushing air. Or to dip feet in the sea. And hurry back.
The tern I’m watching has not availed herself even of this.
Finally he comes.
In his beak is a small silvery fish, thin and long and glistening. He offers it to her. She takes it. Swallows.
And, she’s gone…
If there was a pause, a thank you of some kind before she went I didn’t see it. Their understanding is deeper than that.
Carefully he settles in.
Field Note:
Terns, in particular roseate terns which are endangered, survive on Falkner Island only because of the presence of Stewart B. McKinney Wildlife Refuge personnel whose fundamental purpose is to discourage avian predators. In breeding season the vigilance is day and night. And it is essential.
Gulls, night herons, hawks and falcons would otherwise make short work of both eggs and hatchlings. That this is the case is in and of itself is problematic. Long before Falkner Island was part of a National Wildlife Refuge terns were breeding and nesting there and protecting their young. Also there were those who hunted them. Yet both survived.
What changed?
Many things including the destabilization of the climate. But the key is loss of habitat. When terns could nest anywhere they wanted their numbers were far greater and predation worked for the health of the colony, not against it. Now the terns are under stress, the predators are under stress, and the dedicated few who think survival of what is wild and free matters struggle in a world of last redoubt and last resort.
Learn about the wildlife you can see at Connecticut’s Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge at Smeagull the Seagull’s Guide to Wildlife: http://smeagullguide.org/
Mark Seth Lender’s wildlife photography can be found here: http://marksethlender.com/
Special thanks this week to the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge