Tern, Tern, Tern

A Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) at sunset on Pier 5. The last of the days light is shining right through the nares or nostrils of this bird’s bill.

Common Terns now nest on the old piers on Governor’s Island: 100 chicks were banded there last year. Tomorrow, the It’s Your Tern Festival will be celebrating this resurgence of harbor life (even if none of the terns are actually ours).