Forster’s Tern, Lake Erie, East Harbor State Park, Ohio
Our second campsite on the way to the coast of Maine was in East Harbor State Park in the Sandusky Bay area of Lake Erie in Ohio. The beach there gets some protection by four artificial breakwater rock structures, made out of piled up boulders and rocks. These stretched out little islands were a perfect resting place for a good number of gulls and Forster’s Terns. While I was swimming there I realized that the birds didn’t seem to be bothered by my or other people’s presence. I went back to shore, picked up the camera with the 600 f/6,3 lens, and waded slowly back to the rocks. Standing in the water up to my hips I had a great time watching the birds and shooting pictures for twenty minutes. I just want to share some of my favorites today.
There were enough rocks to sit on but some terns had obviously a reason to chase the competition away.
I love the gesture of this Forster’s Tern, taking care of its feathers.
Many terns were in process of changing from their breeding to the non-breeding plumage.
Ring-billed Gulls are a bit larger than the terns and shared the same habitat.