Least Tern (Sternula antillarum), Willcox Twin Lakes Golf Course, Cochise County

Least Tern has recently been found to be a rare but regular late spring migrant in s. Arizona, mainly at Gilbert and here at Willcox. This individual was photographed by Dave Stejskal on 23 May, 2009 at the small golf course pond at Willcox Twin lakes Golf Course just north of the large pond there.

May 2009 has seen better than the recent normal numbers of this scarce species in s. Arizona. Willcox has produced several of these this year and this single adult bird was photographed two days after a number of normally scarce waterbirds were downed at Willcox by an atypical storm system from the south.

23 May 2009, photo by Dave Stejskal