Wednesday 5 April 2017

Wild Bird Wednesday 245 - White-Fronted Terns

White-Fronted Terns (Sterna striata) are considered to be the most common tern found in New Zealand.  Such statements always make me smile, as the Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) is also found there, but its really un-common!

These White fronted terns were all photographed on the beach at Muriwai, on New Zealand's North Island,  below last week's Gannet colony.  It took me a while to sort out the exposure for these images - photographing birds on a basically black background was not easy.

Anyway, these birds were pretty active, and an incoming tide made it rather risky to lie in the beach and hope the birds got used to me being there (which is my normal tactic in these situations).

As you can see, there were some well grown young birds that were still demanding food from the adults. All in all these were great birds to watch.













As ever, you can join in with WBW by clicking on the link below.

Thanks for the positive comments from from last week - they really did help me put the negative contacts in perspective.  SM

25 comments:

  1. Fabulous post! Love the babies demanding food. Both young and adult are really pretty birds.

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  2. Hello Stewart, I love all the Terns. These are wonderful photos, the juvenile begging for the food is adorable. Great captures. Thanks for hosting. Enjoy your day and the week ahead!

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  3. Those mouths are primed and ready. Birds can be so comical. Lying on the beach sounds like a great time. Great bird shots are a bonus.

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  4. You obtained stunning images of the interactions between the terns. The tack-sharp photos confirm that your pains to get proper exposures certainly paid off!

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  5. With a little Potoshop those could have been Sandwich Terns Stewart. Many of the world's terns do look and behave in remarkably similar. Fine pictures you have there.

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  6. Awesome photos of these birds and their young, Stewart. Thanks for sharing and for hosting this meme. I will link up tomorrow (Wednesday) Greetings Jo

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  7. I can hear them from your photos. Love it. I love all terns I have seen. Wonderful species. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. A new take on singing for your supper. Fun Photos.

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  9. A great series of photos and a really good resource to show the maturing of the terns from chicks to adults.

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  10. What a fabulous series of images, Stewart! It's always a bonus when you manage to photograph both juveniles and adults to demonstrate their differences. You also managed some great shots to demonstrate their behaviours.

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  11. Wow - great photos! I really like the ones where the bird's mouths are open - and the one with a fish in it's beak.

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  12. That one tern is really giving the other one the old 'what-for'.... lovely series. I don't have a bird post this week -- in fact I don't have a post at all. See ya' next time!!

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  13. Terns are among my favorite shore birds. You did a fabulous job capturing their essence here, Stewart!

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  14. Great photos!
    Thanks for hosting WBW!

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  15. So .... who got the fish? Did junior win out or did Mom down it? All kidding aside, great pictures. It makes a great series of a family squabble, but nothing can take away from the beauty of the Terns. They are among just about everybody's favorites. We have a rare Black Tern in our State Park, but I have never been able to capture their picture ... maybe, someday :) Cheers, Stewart :)

    Andrea @ From The Sol

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  16. Fun post..great pictures..The cheese are always feeding each other as well..They all look the same..Can't tell which are juveniles..Wonderful series, Stewart

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  17. Stewart, great photos displaying behavior. Thanks for sharing.

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  18. Lazy child it's big enough to fend for itself :-)) Cheers Diane

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  19. They look very talkative! Great pics!

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  20. Those bossy kids...next they'll want the car keys...

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  21. What neat lookiing birds.That one sure had something important to say!

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  22. Beautiful series of pictures.. Congrats.

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