Tern Buffet

Gallery: AvianPosted July 5, 2013107 views8 comments

July 4, 2013 at Bolsa Chica Wetlands Wildlife Reserve in Huntington Beach, California.

This fledge Forster Tern and a sibling were on a little beach area near the path waiting for mama to feed them. Every ten or fifteen minutes mama flew in and we had one or two seconds to snap as many shots as we could. Unfortunately the upper wing was that close to the edge of the frame. The sun was high in the sky on a bright day. I tried to manage the whites and shadows as best I could.

Nikon D4 Nikkor 600mm 1/1250 f/8 ISO400 white balance auto taken from a tripod with a Wimberley gimbal. Cropped and processed in Lightroom, CS6 and NIK.

Comments welcome

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Patrick O'Healy on July 5, 2013 at 10:42 PM

Later the mama brought a fish too large for the fledge to take on the fly. After a miss, she circled around and landed to do the exchange.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 326 Posts, 1679 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 5, 2013 at 11:35 PM

Excellent action image, Patrick. Good job getting that wing completely in-I usually clip them. You handled the bright sun very well on a black & white bird.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on July 5, 2013 at 11:57 PM

Excellent behavioral captures, Patrick. The wing position in the first doesn't bother me at all. But there is a bit of a halo around the top of the adult's head, probably a sharpening artifact. Easily fixed. The second shot (are we supposed to do that?) is good but lacks the tension and has a bit of clutter in the background. Perhaps less depth of field?

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Jefferson Silva on July 6, 2013 at 6:59 AM

Beautiful moment, a great image, Patrick. The details are great!

Registered on December 18, 2012, 162 Posts, 975 Comments

Comment posted by Claude Dagenais on July 6, 2013 at 9:28 AM

Nice action shot Patrick, I like the way the comp fills the frame.

Registered on April 10, 2013, 56 Posts, 571 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on July 6, 2013 at 10:38 AM

Wonderful timing Patrick - at the exact moment of exchange of the fish. Hats of ! Maybe you could try a slightly lower POV next time, but of course I do not know the circumstances under which the shot was taken. In any case a really nice shot ! Congrats, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Leekam on July 6, 2013 at 5:12 PM

Excellent action shot - sharp, great poses and I like the habitat BG.

Registered on May 28, 2009, 83 Posts, 646 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on July 8, 2013 at 12:41 PM

Wonderful moments captured. Both images are nice. Must have been great to watch! Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments