Arctic Tern - (Juvenile)

[Steve Kaluski]

Taken at a well known nesting site for these birds. If you are prepared to put up with the dive bombing by the parents, or worse, then the opportunities are great and in abundance.

Steve
Subject: Arctic Tern on boardwalk (Sterna paradisaea)
Location: UK
Camera: Canon MKIII
Lens: 70-200f/2.8 -HH
Exposure: 1/400s at f/9 ISO400 0 stop compensation (very overcast conditions)
Crop: Slight crop for presentation (original capture horizontal)

[Randy Stout]

Steve:

Excellent shooting angle, exposure, head angle. The board walk has really been softened by the grass growing through the cracks, took me a bit to figure it out.

Do you wear protective head gear to protect from the parents?

Cheers

Randy

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Randy, if I use a higher elevation then the boardwalk would have been easily visible, but not ideal and it is very old, a lot of people have used it. It basically is the footpath around the colony which you have to keep to, as the parents nest all over the place and at times very close to the walkway and with chicks hatching you need to keep a beady eye on where you walk.

No real protective headgear, well a wooly hat (easily washed) and a a pair of arms, (if free), to act like a windmill, but if the parents do get through then those beaks do hurt.

I will post an example of this scary bird in action would trade you a Loon any day.

Cheers
Steve

[Arthur Morris]

A nice low angle, a nice look back head angle, and a nice grassy boardwalk. Mid-tones look too dark from here while the white cheek looks bright....