Bathing Royal TernBathing Royal Tern – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light

These two bathing Royal Tern images remind me of the warm April morning when I spent time photographing different species splashing around in the Gulf of Mexico. It seemed like one bird started it all by splashing around and soon there were Royal Terns, Laughing Gulls and Black Skimmers all splashing about in the warm, salty waters at low tide. I couldn’t resist laying down in the wet sand to get some nice low angle shots of the bathing birds.

Wings up...Wings up… – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 280mm, natural light

This Royal Tern spent quite a bit of time dipping itself under the shallow water and splashing around before raising its wings and shaking off the water droplets before flying off to the sand to preen itself.

All the terns in North America have ebony black eyes that can be difficult to see when they are in breeding plumage because of their black caps and that makes it challenging for bird photographers to capture just the right moment for the catch lights to show and accentuate their eyes.

Life is good.

Mia