NATURE CLICKS #354 - FORSTER’S TERN

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, California ---------

It is hard to believe that it was already a month ago when I visited the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach, California. I hope you don’t mind if I show another image here in the blog, even if it is not “real fresh” anymore.

If you follow my blog regularly, you know that I never liked the fact that in most places in the wetlands you can’t really shoot near the water level. You are supposed to stay on the trail or levee and that is always higher located. Nevertheless, there is one spot where you can go a little lower (still not low enough) and look over a sand bank that is not submerged in water. At low tide hundreds of birds use it as a resting place or forage in the sand and between the stones. Dozens of Forster’s Terns are among them and they are now in their winter plumage. I have photographed them here at the Mississippi River during migration but never more than two at any time.

NATURE CLICKS #288 - FOSTER'S TERN

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

Our dog Cooper and I took a kayak trip on the Mississippi River this evening again and it felt once more like entering “wildlife paradise”. What else can you call it, if you spot during a one and a half hour tour four Bald Eagles, three Great Blue Herons, numerous gulls, pelicans, geese, ducks, blackbirds, muskrats, and turtles? This is all amazing and wonderful in the warm light of the evening sun, even if we have seen all these species many times before. 

To make a great trip perfect I discovered five Foster’s Terns sitting on logs stranded in the mud of a river bank. I have never seen Foster’s Terns here in Eastern Iowa before (only in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands in California). They were not far from a group of Ring-billed Gulls. While the gulls took off when we got closer, the terns just stayed, even when we drifted by within six feet distance. At that time the D300s was still in a waterproof bag behind my seat but the dauntless behavior of the terns made me paddling around them into a position where the light was in my favor. I took my old camera on the water and its DX sensor made for a 630 mm equivalent, with a focal length of 420 mm set at the Sigma 50-500.

I wrote before how difficult it can be to shoot with the long lens handhold from a kayak, especially if it is windy as it was this evening. I shot several bursts in continuous shooting mode and almost 200 clicks later I still wasn’t sure if I nailed it. Well, the keeper rate wasn’t too bad and finally I had quite a few images to choose from.

The photos were made on the Mississippi, just outside of the Mud Lake area, north of Dubuque, Iowa. I have seen and photographed Caspian Terns in this area last year but this is the first time that I had a sighting of a Foster’s Tern. There is still a little doubt about my identification of the species. For instance the Common Tern looks very similar, but after checking several sources I believe these were Foster’s Terns. If you are a birder or nature friend who can confirm this or have a better suggestion, I would love to hear from you.