![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/forsters-tern-4934-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"forsters-tern-4934-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nIt’s been two years since I’ve posted images of this species but yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA I had some luck with them (yes, the gate to the 4-way at Farmington is now open after many months of being closed for breeding season.)<\/p>\n
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1\/4000, f\/6.3, 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<\/em><\/p>\n After a frustrating and largely birdless morning I found several Forster’s Terns fishing on a pond only minutes before I headed for home. I caught this one in an appealing flight posture against a background I really like. I have a good exposure on the difficult whites in direct sunlight and I succeeded in one of the primary challenges with this species in flight – getting a catch light in the eye. With that photon-sucking black eye set against black feathers it often isn’t easy to do.<\/p>\n There are water droplets coming off the bird which is still wet after an earlier dive and there’s a bit of filamentous material trailing behind the base of the left wing.<\/p>\n But as usual I have a nit to pick. In a perfect world this bird’s head would be slightly sharper – it’s just a little shy of tack sharp. But I still like the image, a lot.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, 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<\/em><\/p>\n Not long after the previous photo was taken I caught this tern emerging from the water with a small fish. It may or may not be the same bird in both photos.<\/p>\n One thing I really like about the photo is the water column flung backwards by the feet as the bird pushed off from the water. A lot of energy is expended to get them airborne again. This shot would be a little more dramatic if the fish were larger but according to studies a 4″ fish is about maximum size for this species to capture and this one looks to be about half that size.<\/p>\n Other studies have shown that only about 24% of Forster’s Tern dives on fish are successful so I’m happy for both the bird and the photographer it had a fish of any size.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s been two years since I’ve posted images of this species but yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA I had some luck with them (yes, the gate at Farmington is now open).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/forsters-tern-4958-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"forsters-tern-4958-ron-dudley\\"")
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