Its funny how some sounds can stir the memory, it’s like it brings everything flooding back. Growing up in rural Newfoundland, we had tons of gulls of course, but also some rarer birds, like ospreys (fish hawks) and a number of bald eagles, in my part of the world at least.
But the noise that brings all of those back to me, is from none of these, its from what we called a “Sterrin” (God knows if I’ve spelt that right, or if you can even spell a wrong name wrongly). From looking up seabirds of Newfoundland, it appears to me it’s most likely a common tern, though I wouldn’t be surprised if we mixed and matched those and the similar arctic tern too.
Not much to say about them really, except they had this very distinctive chirping call, and I loved the way they looked. Seemed so sleek and clean as compared to the gulls. Have a look and listen below.
Raised in outport Newfoundland in a town of 65 people, I pursued a post secondary diploma in Information Technology right out of High School.
I’ve always been a geek at heart, but yet I love the rural life I grew up with. Fishing, hunting, camping and the great outdoors are still loves of mine, even if I don’t pursue them as often as I once did. Sports were always a big part of our lives, and I played many (badly) and loved them all.
