While on the beach this morning, we noticed a gentleman photographing a large gathering of birds resting on the beach. My curiousity got the best of me since it was an odd looking lens. Also, I wanted to volunteer some bird sightings that he might want to photograph. I told him about a couple of Snowy Plovers that I had seen and he kindly replied that he had already seen them. I then asked what kind of lens he was using and he said it wasn't a camera but a scope. In fact, it was a telescope. He was checking leg bandnumbers on Royal Terns and recording them. He said he thought that about one in ten Royal Terns on this beach were banded. I didn't know anyone was placing leg bands on Royal Terns and found this interesting. (Notice the photo of the band on the Royal Tern's leg.) He also pointed out a couple of different bird species I had missed. He said his name was David and he was from New Jersey. The beach can be so interesting - not only birds, but the human species also!