Terns are very entertaining birds to watch hunt. I saw this one in the summer on a bay. I have not seen many Terns here and not 100% sure if this is a Caspian or Common Tern but pretty sure it is a Caspian. Either way, they have amazing eye sight and can gracefully hover over prey before diving straight down to grab it. Puget Sound has transient Common Terns but as far as I know, the only ones that nest here are Caspian on the Columbia river but they have been expanding in the area. This guy just spotted a fish.
He hovers over it
Adjust the angle in dive
Form looks perfect!
impact!
It took him three attempts to catch a fish but he did out of my camera’s range. There are about 40 species of Terns and the Arctic Tern is the world’s record holder for longest migration, every year going from the North Pole to the South Pole and back! I’m hoping to see more of them in the future.
https://www.seattleaudubon.org/BIRDWEB/bird/caspian_tern
Drop me some bird stories if you got them!
My wife has access to a motion activated trail camera which uploads photos online, and I’m tempted to borrow it and aim it at the stream bank behind our house and see what kind of wild (and stray) life shows up. I’ll have figure out if there is a way to limit hours of operation, because during regular daytime hours there is a constant flow of dogs on walks, kids, and other less interesting things.
huh, I wonder if that’s what I’ve been seeing some mornings on way into work.
Every now and then, I’ll see some sort of bird sorta flying-in-place. The bird is kinda moving around and flapping it’s wings a lot, and I’m on my bicycle, so I can’t really look for more than a second or two, so I haven’t been able to ID/recognize them yet.
Could be or a kingfisher will do the same hover.
I don’t have any bird stories right now- but your pics are always really amazing.
Thanks! I’m glad you like them.
Fantastic photos! Based on the tail (not forked) and the black feet, I think you are correct in IDing it as a Caspian. Very cool. We saw some common terns on the Oregon coast the last time we were out there.