ARCTIC TERN ( Sterna paradisaea ) 



Status . --Rare spring and probably fall transient over the Continental 

 Shelf beyond the 30 fathom contour (ca. 77 km offshore). 



Records . --Single birds, 89 km ESE Ocean City (38°11'N, 74°06'W), and 113 

 km ESE Ocean City {38°10'N, 73°48'W), 16 May 1976 (Rowlett 1976b); 21 mostly 

 near 126 km E Ocean City (38°14'N, 73°40'W), 8 May 1977. Additional offshore 

 sightings include 1 or 2 "10-12 miles off Ocean City" (DuMont and 



DuMont 1973a), 12 August 1972, and 2 at "Norfold Canyon, 65 miles east of 

 Norfolk, Va." (Scott and Cutler 1974a), 26 May 1974. Records from shore 

 include 1 at Ocean City, 28 May 1973 (DuMont 1976), and 2 at Cape Henlopen, 

 Delaware, 30 May 1977 (Paxton et al. 1977). 



Remarks . --The Arctic tern is a pelagic migrant usually sighted far off- 

 shore, and until the early 1970's it was unreported from the mid-Atlantic 

 seaboard. 



BRIDLED TERN ( Sterna anaethetus ) 



Status . --Casual late summer visitant over the Continental Shelf when 

 surface water reach maximum temperatures for the year. 



Records . --1 sub-adult, 42 km ESE Ocean City (38°15'N, 74°34'W), 26 Sept- 

 ember 1976 (Rowlett 1977b); 2 sub-adults, 96 km E Hog Island, Virginia over 

 Washington Canyon (37°25'N, 74°25'W), 24 August 1977 (Rowlett in press c). 



Remarks . --These are the first records northwest of the Gulf Stream that 

 cannot be attributed to the passage of tropical storms or hurricanes. 



LEAST TERN ( Sterna albifrons ) 



Status . --Uncommon to fairly common breeding bird along the coast of the 

 Delmarva Peninsula; forages over shallow coastal waters usually within 20 km 

 of shore (Fig. 30). 



Normal period of occurrence . — Late April to mid-September. 



Maximum counts . --16 in 5 h, 2-9 km E Ocean City, 14 May 1972; 16 in 2 h, 

 2-8 km ESE Ocean City, 29 May 1977; 19 in 2 h, 2-10 km ESE Ocean City, 1 June 

 1975. 



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