Least Tern: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, July 2025 — I knew the Least Tern chicks had to be in there somewhere (there being the posted and marked off section of beach up against the top off the dune), but they hide so well that I could not find them. So yesterday I made it my mission to find one. I found not one but two dozen 🙂 And I had my stool with me so I sat and watched them for a while, getting anointed several times for my effort…but the parents settled and I got to see several interactions, both between parents and chicks and chicks and chicks. They are so fast on their tiny feet! Here we have a parent apparently scolding offspring. That is both what it looked and sounded like. The chick is several weeks old and will be flying, short hops down the beach, any day now. Sony a6700. Tamron 50-400 at 600mm. Heavily cropped and upscaled. (I was a lot further away than this looks). Program with my bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.