Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, July 2024 — Least Terns can be aggressive in defending their territory and are in the habit of dive bombing anyone they feel is too close. And we are talking literal bombing here. My first step when I get home is to get out the wet wipes and remove the guano from my camera and clothing. And I always wear a hat. Sony A6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA, July 2024 — This is the shot I dreamed of the whole three weeks I have been watching these Least Terns who nested within sight of a busy trail at a southern Maine beach. These chicks hatched on Wednesday. Early Thursday, with the sun still behind the clouds, they were venturing out to meet one of the parents for a delivery of fish. The adult had downsized the size of the catch considerably overnight, and was now offering the tiniest little minnow Rock Gunnel that I have ever seen, way smaller than yesterday’s offering, and the chicks were taking them. As soon as the sun broke through, the chicks were back under cover of the adult. They are delicate things yet, with 8 weeks of being tended and fed before they are off on their own adventures. But for now it is happy family time. Remember. Long lens, and lots of respect for the nesting birds…even those who build this close to a tail where everyone who uses the beach has to walk right by. Sony A6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di ii VC zoom at 600mm equivalent (and cropped). Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Photomator. (Why are they two different colors? In a casual search on Google I could find no information to answer that question other than a comment that the color can range from cream white to rust red. When Carol asked, I told her it was so the parents could tell them apart. 🙂

Least Tern: York County, Maine, USA — A pair of Least Terns nested about 35 feet from the main access path to one of our southern Maine beaches. I have been watching the nest for 3 weeks, hoping to see the hatchlings. Yesterday, between 10am when I left the beach, and 5pm when I visited again, the chicks got big enough so it was hard for mom or dad to keep them covered. They were squirming around trying to escape from under the sitting bird, and I was there for this moment when one of the adults brought in a tiny Rock Gunnel (I think) to offer to the chicks. I am pretty sure they are still too young for a fish even that size, and, indeed they did not take the fish, but it is probably part of training them to do so soon, when they are out of the nest in the next few days. The parents will feed them for the next 8 weeks. This shot was taken with a long lens, from a safe distance, from a heavily trafficked path, and cropped in to show the bird at about 3000mm equivalent. This would be a spotting scope view, not even a binocular view. I always feel the need to caution folks not to try for this kind of image with your cell phone or even the kit zoom that came with your camera. 🙂 Try not to disturb the birds too much. Sony A6700 with the Tamron 50-400 Di iii zoom at 600mm equivalent (and then cropped as above). Program mode with my evolving bird modifications. Processed in Photomator.

Piping Plover: York County, Maine, USA, July 2024 — More pairs of Plovers on the north end of our beach these days. They maybe just moved up from down the beach, or maybe relocated after a first nest further south. They are very active, ranging from potential nest sites in the protected area all the way down to the surf line. This one just needed to stretch. Sony A6700 with Tamron 50-400mm Di iii zoom at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my evolving birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.