Over the weekend a Whiskered Tern was seen at the pond at Cape May Point State Park. The bird was first spotted on Saturday at 15:00 and remained at the far end of the pond with other terns until about 16:15 when it flew out to the ocean. The bird was not seen again until 14:00 Sunday. Fortunately, I was at the Goshen CMBO store when a call came in reporting the sighting. I took off immediately and managed to get back to the pond about 15:15. From the Hawk platform I saw the small group that had formed at the far end of the pond. I raced to that spot, got a quick look through someone’s scope to locate the bird and then had great views with binos and scope. The bird has a black crown that extends below the eye and down the nape. The legs are red and the bill is a red-grey color. The underside is a dark grey-black mottled color. The bird is about the size of the Forster’s Terns it was among. For the time I was there, the bird was very cooperative. It would preen while in the water, fly up a few feet, land in the water or on a stump and be it that position for a few minutes before repeating the routine. When I left about 15:45, the bird was still in sight. What I was told was this is the second North American sighting of this bird. A Ruddy Duck was in Lilly Lake and female Redstarts and a Great Crested Flycatcher were on the Yellow Trail. No one had seen the Upland Sandpipers or the Least Bittern, which were my targets. They told me of an alternate site for the Uppies, the Cape May Airport. I tried that but the lawn there was recently cut very short and no birds were in sight. I forgot to ask the locals what was going on because the walkway/road into the fields at the beanery was blocked by a pile of dirt and a plastic barrier. I interpreted this to mean that the owner did not want birders going into the field. Incidentally, the reason I was at the Goshen CMBO store was to buy the Wahl/Paulson book on birding in Washington state. It turns out they do not carry that book. Where is another source for this book? Thanks Joe Halpin Silver Spring, MD email: halpinj @juno.com _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]