Not what you would expect to see in a black spruce bog. Adult Sooty Tern, Rye Pond NH

This sooty tern was found dead on August 30 along the southern end of Rye Pond in Stoddard NH. It was lying in tire ruts leading up to a cabin on the southern edge of the pond. Bob Sturgess, the owner of the cabin, got word to Becky Smith, local artist and member of the Harris Center, who got word to me.

Sooty Tern and White-tailed tropicbird, both star birds of the recent hurricane Irene, were deposited by the storm at multiple coastal and inland localities along the eastern seaboard. As the storm progressed northwards, it lost both steam and birds, and likely New Hampshire and Vermont were the northern front for this avian event. None were found in VT, and only one of each were found in New Hampshire. Only the tropicbird was found alive, but it too perished.