Royal Tern in Flight

This was our last day in Chincoteague.  We checked out of our house about 10 and drove over to the beach.  It was a bit overcast and cool so instead of parking ourselves in chairs, we took a very long walk down the most deserted end of the beach where only 4 wheel-drive vehicles with permits are allowed.  It was just magical as we saw very few people.  We walked out to the end of Tom's Cove with the ocean on one side and the bay on the other, a five mile round trip.

Along the way we came across a large group of Royal Terns lined up like soldiers in formation, facing into the wind.  As I slowly got closer, they got restless, but didn't fly off as they usually do.  They clearly liked where they were and didn't want to move so just kept shuffling away from me.  Occasionally one would take off and fly overhead only to return.  It was one of those that I caught in flight. 

We arrived back at the car fairly tired, had some lunch, and then headed north to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge on the Delaware Bay.  We arrived around five pm so not a lot of time before the refuge closed but I wanted to check it out as a future photography destination for Wendy and me, as it is only a little over 2 hours from home. Wishful thinking about when this will be over. 

Finally, we headed to Wilmington to our hotel.  We stayed at a Hilton because they have completely contactless check-in and keyless entry via an app.  We had requested a room that no one had been in for several day so we felt we weren't taking any risk.  We ordered dinner from a local pub and ate in our room.  It almost felt normal. We were here for a good reason.  Stay tuned.