Terns are like elegant gulls; in fact, there ARE Elegant Terns, but one would probably have to go to Baja to see them. Terns have black caps, white bodies, often red or bright orange bills and black or red legs. They are slimmer than gulls and stand on shorter legs.
Tiscornia Beach Park is on the north side of the channel of the St. Joseph river where it empties into Lake Michigan in Benton Harbor. I knew terns hung out there while migrating. It was very close to Sarett Nature Center where I birded the last day of April this year (like yesterday), so I went there on the way home and saw 125 to 150 Caspian terns and one much smaller tern, most likely either a Common or a Forster's. Through the binoculars, the smaller tern looked like a baby with 125 parents. It was sweet.
They were all on the beach just north of the channel, and I could approach closely through the dunes to the east. It was FINALLY a sunny and warm day in Michigan although the beach was deserted which suited me.....and the terns.
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