Spring Caspian Tern Photos Plus A Bonus Osprey Image
At the end of last month, I had the pleasure of taking Caspian Tern photos as these terns were flying and fishing at my local pond.
At the end of last month, I had the pleasure of taking Caspian Tern photos as these terns were flying and fishing at my local pond.
Eleven years ago this morning I had an amazing time photographing flocks of Brown Pelicans plunge feeding in the Gulf of Mexico.
I had fun testing my skills by photographing several immature Forster's Terns that were hunting for and catching prey at Farmington Bay WMA two days ago.
The day I came home from camping in the West Desert the first bird calls I heard were from several Caspian Terns in flight overhead that were squabbling and diving at each other.
This image of a splashing and bathing Royal Tern in a Florida lagoon was taken nearly ten years ago and I'd never processed it until today.
There were birds that I photographed including this Yellow-rumped Warbler who perched out in the open with the fall colors of curly docks in the background.
Although I didn't see it at the time I photographed this bird in flight the Caspian Tern did fly in close enough for me to capture images that showed it had bands on its legs.
I have had fun photographing Forster's Terns the last few times I have gone to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, they are graceful, beautiful terns and they challenge my skills.
Right now these terns at the refuge are busy feeding their young although some of the juvenile Forster's Terns have already learned how to capture prey on their own.
A little more than a week ago I spotted this Forster's Tern resting on a log in the water at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge from the auto tour loop and I felt I had to hop out and take a few images from across the hood of my Jeep
The differences in breeding and nonbreeding plumage of Forster's Terns is enough that some bird watching and bird photography novices might even think that they are two different species of terns.
The "Circling" courtship behavior of Royal Terns was one that I found interesting because as the male circled the female she moved too and kept her sides facing him.
This Forster's Tern was hovering while hunting over a unit of water on the auto tour route of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah in clear morning light.
I've always loved this image of a Forster's Tern in flight because the pose is wonderful and the tern looks elegant against the gray of a distant storm cloud.
When I lived in Florida I was able to see and photograph juvenile Royal Terns on the Gulf Coast were they could be seen along the shoreline and they were usually begging the adults for food.
When I photographed this Forster's Tern hovering over prey there were several others in the area doing the same thing which makes it difficult to decide on which bird to photograph.
This Forster's Tern wasn't trying to take over this Canada Goose nest when I photographed it but it might look that way in this image.
Every time I look at this tern image I laugh because my mind sees a tiny starfish stuck on the birds face that is actually its bill.
I processed an older image of a juvenile Sandwich Tern in flight from my Florida archives to post this morning.
One July morning at 2008 I came across quite a few Common Terns at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach.
Six years ago this morning I was photographing birds at Fort De Soto County Park and I wanted to share a few images and memories of that day.
Last week I photographed this adult Forster's Tern in flight as it foraged for food above Glover Pond near Farmington Bay WMA.
Soon Caspian Terns will be back in Utah flying over rivers, ponds, lakes and other freshwater impoundments searching for prey.
The nonbreeding Forster's Tern in these two images is the same bird and the images were taken ten frames and a few seconds apart as the tern stood on the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico in Florida.
This Forster's Tern image was taken several years ago on Fort De Soto County Park's north beach while it was resting on the sand as another tern was flying towards us both.
One of my favorite locations to photograph birds in northern Utah is Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I've selected some of the birds there that delight and entertain me while I observe and photograph them.
Just a simple post today to show the differences in the breeding and nonbreeding plumage of Royal Terns.
Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia) are North America's largest tern with a wingspan of 50 inches and weighing in at 1.4 pounds.
Yes, poop happens. If there are birds there is poop. That is the straight poop... I mean scoop!
When I moved from Florida to Utah I felt it was fortunate that some of the nonbreeding birds I used to see in Florida during the winter I now get to see in breeding plumage on their nesting grounds.