Rondeau Ric

A large, orange-billed tern, the Royal Tern is found only along ocean beaches. We saw this one on the gulf coast in Texas. The Royal Tern makes its nest scrape on the ground on low-lying islands. The pair defecates directly on the nest rim, perhaps to reinforce the nest against flooding. After a few weeks, the nest rim hardens. Thalasseus maximus

Does he remind you of Mr. Burns? , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Personally, I don't watch the Simpsons, but my kids used to and I would catch little bits of the program. This Royal tern reminds me of the character. Scientific stuff - Thalasseus maximus A large, orange-billed tern, the Royal Tern is found only along ocean beaches. The Royal Tern makes its nest scrape on the ground on low-lying islands. The pair defecates directly on the nest rim, perhaps to reinforce the nest against flooding. After a few weeks, the nest rim hardens. Young Royal Terns leave the nest scrape within one day after hatching and congregate together in a group known as a crèche. Eventually all of the chicks in a colony come to the crèche, which can have thousands of chicks ranging in age from two to 35 days old. A pair of Royal Terns will feed only their own chick, and manage to find it in the crowd, probably by recognizing its call. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/royal_tern/id

Those Aussies are tough on smoking , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. This is Bondi Beach in Australia and is a major surfing area and tourist beach. No smoking is allowed on the beach. Never mind that it is outdoors, you can't smoke here. I guess they don't want it used as a giant ash tray.