There’s no fish in this one but I like the elegance of the tern in flight.
1/5000, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
For me few birds personify elegance and grace in flight more than some tern species and the little Forster’s Tern is one of them (this one was photographed eleven days ago at Bear River MBR).
Some tern flight poses are more dynamic than this one but for me it’s the length of that long and slender wing that caught my eye. The perfectly vertical angle of the wing immediately had me doing a visual comparison of body length to wing length and it became obvious that the wing is considerably longer than the body is long. Their slender and lightly built bodies, long forked tails and long narrow wings make them absolutely superb fliers.
Here the background is water and with those subtle wave textures and colors I much prefer it over plain blue sky.
It’s a simple image but I do like it.
Ron
I think I’m always drawn to the utter beauty of the wing in flight shots. It’s this level of sheer perfection that knocks my socks off. Each individual feather takes its place to complete the spectacular elegance of the whole. Is it any real wonder that we envy not only the ability of flight, but that raw perfection of design, function and beauty? I think not. And of course, that raw perfection continues throughout the entire bird.
IF this reincarnation thing is a thing, I definitely want to come back as a bird, preferably a raptor.
Oh yes.
Though my greedy self would also like to be a tiger. And a dragon.
Ooooh! Yes! A dragon (but not the one from Game of Thrones!). 🙂
That is a spectacular wing, isn’t it, Laura!
Aaaaah.
Thank you.
🙂
Ron, a beautiful shot of this Forester’s Tern. After reading your comment about the length of the beautiful wing, I got curious and looked up the body and wing span sizes: body is 13-14″ and the wing span is 25-28″.
That’s an impressive number comparison, Alice. Thanks for providing it.
Great shot! Speaking of elegance in flight, my favorite is the vulture. They appear to effortlessly climb the wind currents and singularly focus on something to eat as they circle lower and lower towards the prize. A beautiful sight!
Thanks, Pat. Yes, it’s fascinating to watch vultures as they soar.
Lovely. Great wing position and photo composition, Ron. This photo makes my week take a “tern” for the better. (Sorry for the “pun”ishment, I’ve been holding back since you posted the first tern shot. I think I hurt myself. 😉 )
I definitely am off my game — I left a comma splice! 🙁
I wish you a quick recovery, Marty! You can rest easy if your comma splice is the worst thing that happens today…
Unfortunately, it wasn’t. But there’s always tomorrow! 😉
I also like the simplicity of this photo. When you talk about wing length vs. body length, the other bird that comes to mind is the Albatross, which has amazingly long wings. They are definitely chunky and clunky compared to Terns, though.
You’re absolutely right about the albatross, Susan. A few others are like that too – frigatebirds for example.
Nice…
🙂
Beautiful! Everything comes together…………:)
Thank you, Judy.
Beautiful shot!
Thanks, Dick.
Such a beauty. Thanks Ron
I’m glad you like it, Sarah.
Fabulous flight shot Ron!
Charlotte
Thank you, Charlotte.