Photo: Tern Colony, VA DWR
The saga of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Seabird Colony continues. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) monthly blog on the colony reports that at the last visit there were more than 3,000 adult Royal Terns nesting on the Fort Wool site. Also spotted were interspersed nesting Sandwich Terns and some Laughing Gulls nearby. Black Skimmers, Common Terns and 11 adult Gull-billed Terns (a state-threatened species) are nesting on the barges.
You will recall DWR’s construction of a habitat for the nesting birds on Fort Wool and nearby barges was a cliff-hanger last year. The habitat had to replace nesting sites from a long-time colony displaced by the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Expansion Project, and success was not guaranteed. DWR celebrated the project’s success in an article in the Virginia Wildlife magazine (If You Build It, They Will Come), and started the monthly blog to report on this year’s activity.
Birders are not allowed to visit the colony, but the current issue of the blog provides the next best thing, stunning 360⁰ views of the nesting sites on Fort Wool and the barges, plus lovely pictures of the different seabird eggs. You can subscribe to DWR’s monthly reports here. Choose “Wildlife Updates” to get a monthly notice of new articles.