Common Tern

[Haim Ziv]

Mark II 600 mm with TC1.4 little crop.
1/1250 f6.3 ISO125

Thank you for looking.
Appreciate all C&C.

[Melvin Grey]

Beautiful composition. Full range of tones - even detail in the eyes within those black caps - a really great image.

[Melvin Grey]

Surely with those completley red bills they are Arctic Terns - Sterna paradisaea. Not Common Terns - Sterna hirundo.

[Haim Ziv]

Surely with those completley red bills they are Arctic Terns - Sterna paradisaea. Not Common Terns - Sterna hirundo.

Thank you Melvin.
According to Israel birds book it's Common Terns.
We don't have Arctic Terns or any arctic birds here. :(

[Melvin Grey]

Haim,
The Arctic Tern undertakes the longest migration of any species. Birds breeding beyond the Arctic Circle will migrate south, spending the winter months in the pack-ice belt around the Antarctic. The only Bird book I have that covers Israel is 'The Birds of the Middle East and North Africa' and it lists Arctic Tern as a 'passage vagrant' through Algeria, Cyprus, Turkey and Israel. Common and Arctic Terns are almost identical in size and markings, but AT's have completly red bills and CT's have red bills with a black tip. With regard to your comment that you do not have any arctic birds in Israel - I have photographed Little Stint, Ruff and Sanderling in the pools outside Eilat, these are all arctic breeding species but overwintering or on passage.
Whatever the Terns are - it is still a superb image

[Haim Ziv]

Haim,
The Arctic Tern undertakes the longest migration of any species. Birds breeding beyond the Arctic Circle will migrate south, spending the winter months in the pack-ice belt around the Antarctic. The only Bird book I have that covers Israel is 'The Birds of the Middle East and North Africa' and it lists Arctic Tern as a 'passage vagrant' through Algeria, Cyprus, Turkey and Israel. Common and Arctic Terns are almost identical in size and markings, but AT's have completly red bills and CT's have red bills with a black tip. With regard to your comment that you do not have any arctic birds in Israel - I have photographed Little Stint, Ruff and Sanderling in the pools outside Eilat, these are all arctic breeding species but overwintering or on passage.
Whatever the Terns are - it is still a superb image

Thank you very much Melvin.
Everyday I'm learning new things. I accept your explanation with respect.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Sweet reflection and a beautiful pair of birds. Love the setting and the rings created by the tiny ripple.
Nice work.
I would get rid of the dust spot on the left.

[Amano Samarpan]

lovely tones and colours .. but I find myself questioning the sandy grit they are standing on ... looks a bit unreal ... something in the processing perhaps!

Amano

[Haim Ziv]

lovely tones and colours .. but I find myself questioning the sandy grit they are standing on ... looks a bit unreal ... something in the processing perhaps!

Amano
Thank you Amano.
Everything is real in this picture and the "sand" is not a sand it's big salt cube. :D

[Mital Patel]

would say i thoroughly enjoyed the sheer beauty of image. what i would do is try Levels with Blue Channel : 242 and Green : 251 to compensate the white's from warmer to a neutral white. and may clone down the dust spot on the tail farther to left of first tern over the border edge.

[Amano Samarpan]

Thank you Amano.
Everything is real in this picture and the "sand" is not a sand it's big salt cube. :D

I don't doubt that the salt is real but it looks a little dull ... maybe this is how it is meant to be !??

Amano

[Jim Crosswell]

Great reflection and interesting perch!

[Paul Guris]

Surely with those completley red bills they are Arctic Terns - Sterna paradisaea. Not Common Terns - Sterna hirundo.

There are multiple marks that show these birds to be Common Terns.


The bills are not blood red as expected in Arctic, and show a tiny amount of dark on the upper mandible. They are also longer than you would see on Arctic. FYI, using soft part color, like the color of legs and bills, can be fraught with error. These colors are highly impacted by both food and hormones. I have seen American Herring Gulls with bright yellowish legs in the spring, but the books say they should be pink.
The primaries are black. In flight, these would show as a dark wedge on the outer portion of the wing. These feathers are gray on adult Arctic.
Wings are as long or longer than the tail. Arctic has short wings, so the tail extends obviously beyond the folded wingtips.
Arctic looks very short necked and with a dainty rounded (domed) head. These birds have flat crowns with a bend at the rear.

Here is a good web photo (http://www.refugewatch.org/images/arctic_tern.jpg) of Arctic that shows the marks I'm mentioning.

[Pieter de Waal]

I like the composition of this image , sharp and beautiful colours - lovely capture. I might just lighten the image a little as it appears a little dark.

[Bonnie Block]

Sweet, beautifully composed image. It appears to me that it could be lightened, I am thinking the whites are looking a little drab.