Jehad was looking for chicks or eggs for the
Little Tern close to the area where the White Cheeked Tern gathers in Bahrain
at the start of the breeding season. He found them in the beginning of the
mating season when they were laying their eggs. Despite extensive searching he
only found one pair of Little Tern with their nest. He kept well awat from the
nest but was surprised that the bird leaves the nest well before anyone approaches.
The birds remained away for a relatively long time and then returned close to
the nest as many as ten times without sitting on the eggs. Finally they returned
to the eggs in the nest, which consists of a small hole with two large eggs
relative to the bird's small size. Little Tern does breed along the coast and
inland but I have never seen a nest of one, although I do not search for them
as hard as other people. I thank Jehad for sending me the details and allowing
me to use his photos on my website.
