Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Forster's Tern

A greatly cropped image of this Forster's Tern, seen at Frank Lake, south of Calgary. In Alberta, uncommon to common from May to September. Does it look familiar, Tanya, LOL?

A friend and I had a most enjoyable day down at Frank Lake, south east of Calgary, on Monday. We had fun trying to catch these Forster's Terns for an in-flight shot. I managed to get several, but none are very sharp (i.e. don't look at it in large size, LOL). When they hover, I love the feather patterns in the wings and tail. Very elegant birds.

A friend very kindly invited me to go south of the city today to a place called Frank Lake. The weather was overcast for a good part of the morning but the sun did finally come through just before we returned home. We saw a great variety of birds, which was a real treat. Most were far away in the distance, but I have been able to bring them a little closer with cropping. It was a dizzying experience trying to get a photo of a Forster's Tern at Frank Lake. Fascinating to watch them zoom all over the place and then hover.

I was a little amused at the body language of these two Forster's Terns way out in the middle of Frank Lake. I couldn't even see which way they were facing when I took the photo - just clicked and hoped for the best :)

This kind of Tern is so similar to the Common Tern. The Forster's Tern hovers above the water and plunges headfirst to catch small fish and aquatic invertebrates. The bird in this photo kept flying before us and hovering face to face. A neat experience.