Posting for 19 August 2006...A series of shots I finally photomerged together from my lighthouse cruise on the 5th of August. I tried taking 3 panos from the boat, the first I tried to piece together didn't work - too many changes with the movement of the boat... luckily this one did.. haven't tried the 3rd yet...

This is Great Gull Island and Little Gull Island (far right). Great Gull Island is the largest Common and Roseate Tern nesting stie in the Northeast. The reseach station which studies and tags the terns was established by the American Museum of Natural History in 1966. It was orginally built as a fort to protect Long Island Sound and New York City during the Spanish-American War - the fort was in service until 1949. Now it is home to 10,000 pairs of Common Terns and 1,500 pairs of Roseate Terns from May to September...