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. 🙂