News reached the birding community here in Seattle that a black tern was in the area at the end of May. Black terns are actually quite a common species in North America, but they typically don’t come to the Pacific Northwest coast. They prefer to stay on the east side of the Cascades, so it was quite unusual that one would be here.
The tern was at a municipal park and wildlife preserve called Juanita Bay on the east side of Lake Washington. Rather than fight traffic driving to the east side of the lake to reach Juanita Bay—and even then, possibly seeing the black tern only at long distance from shore—I decided to paddle a kayak across from the west side of Lake Washington, where I live. The tern would probably be foraging over the water, so I might get better looks from the boat than I would from land.
Route map. The lure of a black tern spiced up what would otherwise have been a dull crossing of Lake Washington.
I paddled across the lake to Juanita Bay, where I soon spotted some birders standing on the causeway over the water. Sure enough, they were looking at the black tern. Unfortunately for me, a great deal of chop had kicked up. Lake Washington is one of those large inland lakes that can become unbelievably rough during a breeze—much more so than a sea kayaker would expect from a freshwater body. The wind waves made it impossible to keep my boat still and use the binoculars at the same time, so I was getting a worse view of the tern than I would have from shore.
Disappointed but hoping for better looks, I paddled across the bay to a more sheltered area and hauled out on a muddy bank. I’d lost sight of the tern but was hoping to reacquire it from shore.
Launch at Magnuson Park. Seaplanes, jet skis, and various other high-octane vehicles make Lake Washington feel like a freeway.
East side of Lake Washington. Every homeowner demands his or her own private dock.
Beach at Nelson Point, Juanita Bay Park. One of the last undeveloped stretches of shoreline on the east side of Lake Washington.
Luckily, I’d worn boots, so I was able to splash through the muddy swamp to a boardwalk and clamber my way up onto it. My unexpected appearance from the lakeside surprised two other birders on the boardwalk, but the binoculars dangling around my neck served as a totem to reassure them that I was a member of the tribe.
By sheer good luck, it turned out they were looking right at the black tern, which had perched about ten feet away from them on a branch in the swamp! It was the best look imaginable. Even with my little point-and-shoot camera, I was able to take a picture of it:
Black tern in Juanita Bay Park, Lake Washington.
On the way back across the lake, paddling into the headwind and chop, I reflected on an irony: even a water-loving bird is sometimes better and more easily seen from shore than from a kayak. But all’s well that ends with such a great view of a rare bird. And I did manage to avoid the traffic.
—Alex