Fetish Tern

On Monday Robin and I rode our bikes to Floyd Bennett Field and Jacob Riis Park. The highlight of our day was an encounter with a Royal Tern who had an odd fetish.

Along the beach at Jacob Riis Park the storm has exposed a lot of the park's old concrete walkways, most of which has been buried for decades. It created a convenient place for us to park our bikes, eat some lunch and lie in the sun. A storm weary Royal Tern decided to hop up on the wall and join us. His wings drooped from exhaustion and he looked a little disheveled. I felt sorry for him and shared a bit of my sandwich, which he readily took from my hand. Once the sandwich was finished he set his sights on something a little, well, fetishy.

Robin had worn her bathing suit under her cycling gear. Lying in the sun, she had placed her cycling clothes, which included a sports bra, in a neat pile on the wall. I was eating a plum when I noticed that the tern was slowly waddling over towards her clothes. I watched in disbelief as he grabbed the corner of her bra (must have been a "he") and prepared to make off with it. Robin yelled, "HEY", and grabbed the opposite end of the bra. There was a brief tug-o-war. One might think that Robin's ire would have chased him off, but it didn't. He hung around a few feet from us for about 20 minutes. Eventually he took off and joined some other royals down the beach.

It's fairly unusual to see Royal Terns in NYC, but to see the rare subspecies Sterna maxima fetishii is really special. Unless of course it makes off with your underwear.