Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, June 2024 — Least Terns hunting Sand Eels at the mouth of one of our rivers, along with Roseate and Common Terns. There is a large colony of Least Terns nesting one river south, and a few may nest on this beach…through there are no signs yet (other than the Fish and Wildlife protected area signs). The slope and shape of all our beaches were radically altered by the late winter and early spring storms. Terns in flight are always going to be a challenge to photograph. They are super acrobatic flyers as you see here where two similar postures show the underside and the upper-side of the wings. OM System OM-1Mkii with M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Roseate Tern: York County, Maine, USA, June 2024 — There were three species of Terns actively feeding at the mouth of one of our local rivers on Sunday: Roseate (pictured here), Common, and Least. The sand eels were plentiful. I set out to try to capture the diving terns and terns rising from the water, and the OM System OM-1Mkii and M.Zuiko 100-400IS zoom did well, even at 800mm equivalent. Any faults in the photos are user error 🙂 This is Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. 16.7 frames per second in SH2 mode and 1/2500th and 1/2000th of a second. The hardest part was keeping the bird in frame as it dived and continuing to keep it in frame as it rose. The Roseate Tern tail features are a treat. Processed in Photomator.