I’m shooting within a five-mile radius these days, trying to get my photographic fix as I’m on my way to or from something else … on sunny days, interspersed with Seattle rain. Fortunately, within those five miles, there are three nesting Osprey couples, one Bald Eagle pair, many more Great Blue Herons in their rookery, and at least 300 Caspian Terns camping out on a local industrial rooftop. During low tides at my local cove, the Caspians stake out turf on the exposed sandbars, congregating, bathing, socializing, preening and bringing each other fish from the other end of Elliott Bay. So, today it’s about the terns again … just a few of my recent peeks into Caspian Tern culture.
If you watch terns in flight, you know this moment is a split second shake-off as the terns rise up and do a partial twist to free themselves of water droplets. Where I’m photographing them, their up-turn usually happens right in front of the busiest backgrounds (Port of Seattle), making focus tough at times. This particular turn did its twist against a more subtle backdrop.
click for larger image - ©ingridtaylar
Low tide on Elliott Bay provides temporary sand bars for big tern gatherings. This is a small section of the 200 or so Caspian Terns who were lazing on the beach this sunny day.
click for larger image - ©ingridtaylar
This Caspian Tern had just landed, offering up its catch of fish to what I assumed was his mate:
Fish Offering - ©ingridtaylar
Sharing - ©ingridtaylar
Just a shot of Caspian traffic — coming and going while terns bath in Elliott Bay below.
Traffic - ©ingridtaylar
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I adore terns, they are so graceful in flight. I love the twisting head image, that is great fun to see and photograph!
That first shot is a tough one to get Ingrid. I only have one like it that I’ve kept. Love that red bill. This species is unreliable around here – some years there’s lots of them and other years (like this one) they’re scarce.
Ron, I never responded to your comment about the scarcity of Caspians. I’ve been meaning to write a post about this, but this particular group terns is relatively new to this area around Elliott, Bay or so I understand. They’ve been hazed and pushed out of other areas around the Northwest (because of salmon issues) and this may be one group displaced now to my neighborhood. No one had mentioned Caspians nesting in this area, and I noticed they did seem to be nesting and laying eggs on a nearby industrial rooftop. I tried to get some traction on the idea. A lovely local birder took me up on it and the two of us have now discovered that this may be the first colony trying to breed in this area. We don’t know how successful the season will be, owing to multiple hazards, including the local crows. But I’m keeping an eye on them through my lens and binoculars. I wish they had some better habitat here, in which to carry on with their tern business.
Thanks, Mia and Ron. I’ve been absent and holed up with work, but obviously appreciate the kind comments and observations. I keep waiting for the tern to actually shake off against a blue sky background. It hasn’t happened yet at my location. I came close to capturing that the other day, but missed the moment.