A couple of flight postures I doubt I’ll ever see again. Almost certainly I’ll never photograph them again.
Yesterday morning at Bear River MBA I spent much of my time attempting to get interesting photos of Forster’s Terns in flight and diving on fish. But I had a hard time getting the sun directly behind me and the bird at the right angle at the same time, so their notorious “photon trap”, the black cap that also surrounds their black eyes, usually prevented me from getting a catch light in their eye. As a result, a lot of my photos that were otherwise pretty damn good will end up in the trash heap.
But I got a few I like and these are two of them.
1/5000, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Explaining how this flight posture came to be will be a challenge but I’ll give it my best shot.
When these terns spot prey (usually a small fish) in the water below them their acrobatic turns and dives are a photographer’s nightmare to capture. This bird had been flying away from me and slightly to my right so I was tracking ‘him’ with my lens but not taking photos. I don’t need any more butt shots.
But I fired off a quick burst when he spotted a fish in the water to his right and slightly behind him, which caused him to instantly apply his air brakes by turning 90° to his right and tipping his body clockwise 90° (see the next photo) at the same time, which put him broadside to the direction he’d been going. This flight posture allowed him to stop his forward motion, quickly change direction and go after the fish which was out of frame to the lower right and a little behind him.
The horizon line at the top of the frame is the interface between far away mountains and the sky, which shows that I was aiming my lens straight forward (horizontally and level), not up.
I love this flight posture but…
1/6400, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
I might like the next photo in the burst even more.
Here his topsy turvy body has turned 90° or more in two dimensions and he’s looking directly at the fish below him and to our right. This action was fast and furious so needless to say, the next shot in the burst was soft. After that he’d zoomed out of frame.
I have no idea if he caught the fish but I got the photos so I’m a happy photographer.
Ron
Note:
Forster’s Terns eat mostly fish but after many dives on prey I never saw one with a fish. Not a single time, which I thought was highly unusual. In one photo I could see what looked like a tiny arthropod in the tern’s bill (it definitely wasn’t a fish). Cornell’s Birds of the World says Forster’s Terns eat “primarily small (1-10 cm length) fish, some arthropods” so it may be that many or all of the terns I was photographing were feeding on arthropods instead of fish.
Incredible shots of a contortionist bird! It really looks like his wings and tail are upside-down!
Magnificent!
Thank you, Gary.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 (sorry, trying to get myself prepped for a 6-day road trip, but wanted to applaud your great catch of this beautiful bird … love black/white combo in all things, and this tern has really got it!)
Plus that backdrop is perfect! 😬
Thanks, Chris. Have a great trip!
Beautiful, elegant and grace is what your photo captured.
Take Care,
Kaye
Thanks, Kaye.
What an incredible athlete. I am so glad that luck, persistence and skill worked together for you (and us).
So am I. Thanks, EC.
These are beautiful and I love the background colors too. Well done!
I have not been up to BRMBR and it is killing me! I have a rental car and between the high water and the “no gravel roads” disclaimer that came with the rental I have not been in 4 weeks. I get my care back today, yippee!
April, the water at that bad spot is only 2-3″ deep but that doesn’t help the “no gravel roads” part. The morning I was there it was as birdy as I’ve ever seen it at the refuge.
The tail display is superb. Well worth the 2505 photos just to get these two.
The backdrop couldn’t be more complementary.
I’m still working on the angular rotations.
Our intrepid photographer maneuvers his noodlecraft and barely escapes the black holes and photon traps to capture the prized catch light.
Lyle, I don’t know how “intrepid” I am but I work hard at it so I’ll give myself points for that.
The tail! The wings! Such beautiful symmetry!
Thanks, Amy.
Stunning, Ron! I always smile when I see a catchlight. And the tail feathers in these are almost magical. Thanks.
I smile when I see them too, Ellen. When don’t see them I nearly always junk the photo.
Love these two shots, especially the first. What a job getting these guys in frame. The only way I would ever get a shot like this would be an extremely lucky grab shot. Excellent Ron.
We occasionally get visits by Forster’s Gulls during the wet winter.
I just looked up Johann Reinhold Forster because I am very interested in those for whom our birds are named. I am among those who would like to see the honorary names changed, but in his case, he was an ornithologist who actually saw and wrote about the birds he discovered. He along with his young son accompanied Capt James Cook on his second Pacific voyage. Definitely a brave man.
“The only way I would ever get a shot like this would be an extremely lucky grab shot.”
Everett, don’t think that luck didn’t play a part in me getting these shots. It did.
Thanks for providing some interesting history about Johann Forster.
The first one is just plain GORGEOUS.
Thanks, Jo.
So beautiful! His twisted neck confused me on first take – I thought we were looking at his ventral aspect and I didn’t see any feet. But then I re-read and re-looked, and waved my hand according to your description, and now I get it!
Thank you for telling us what the interface lines are – that helps so much in placing things!
In the 2nd photo, his right wing pointing down and turning into a pivot point, whew! Just amazing!
“His twisted neck confused me on first take”
Carolyn, I anticipated that, which is why I went into such a long and involved explanation. Thanks for appreciating it.
So ethereal!
Thanks, Sallie.
I’d be happy if I cold just keep one in the frame. Very interesting analysis of this behavior and flight dynamics.
Thanks, Kenneth. Some if that was hard to explain.
Superb! Every right to be happy and thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Burrdoo.
As I look at these photos I’m, once again, trying to imagine you hefting and aiming that camera and enormous lens to get these (Tern in a turn) shots of this elegant and very swift bird. I am impressed.
I’m rather partial to the first photo. Just beautiful.
“trying to imagine you hefting and aiming that camera and enormous lens”
Thanks, Michael. Much of the time I’m not “hefting” them. Instead, my lens is resting on my handy-dandy pool noodle on my window. The biggest challenge I face in that regard is how limiting it is to shoot out my pickup window. I can only follow the bird so far, left and right or up and down.
Nevertheless, I am impressed.
WoW! You continue to amaze me!
Much appreciated, CJ.
If you take enough photos you’re likely to get lucky. Yesterday I took 2505 photos, most of them of terns in flight.
WOW! VBG! 🙂 Beautiful 1st photo and 2nd one gives a “hint” at the gymnastics being applied – quite a contortion in progress! Beautiful bird…… 🙂
Thanks, Judy.