Whiskered Tern

Whiskered Tern are fast, acrobatic, sky dancers that are magical to watch and tricky to photograph as they are only about the size of Common Starlings.

Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida)
1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 800
Canon 5DsR, Canon 200-400 L IS USM EXT

I was at the Werribee Western Treatment Plant a few days ago, with friends who also think that visiting poo paddocks is a great way to spend a day. I just wrote that ‘we were treated to’ when I realised how wrong that sounds after the ‘Treatment Plant’ of the first sentence! At least the ‘to’ only had one o. Anyways, back to the story. There were heaps of magnificent birds there, as always, and then we saw a couple of dozen Whiskered Tern magically foraging along the banks of a T-Section pond.

At first they were hawking insects from the tall grasses that edged the pond, then they began flying into the wind, about 8m above the water to look for insects, small fish and invertebrates on and just below the surface of the water.

Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida)
1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 800
Canon 5DsR, Canon 200-400 L IS USM EXT

Whiskered Tern often plunge dive into the water, sometimes coming up with very tiny larvae that hardly seem worth the effort it took to catch them. Their dives aren’t deep, often leaving the tips of their wings clear of the water.

Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida)
1/2500, f/8.0, ISO 800
Canon 5DsR, Canon 200-400 L IS USM EXT

The patterns of droplets when they emerge add to the gracefulness of these birds. They are beautifully marked with their dramatically black and white faces, dark underparts, and bright red bills and legs (when in the breeding season). Non breeding birds are less dramatic, their bills are blacker, their underparts are white and their caps are often speckled – the bird in the first image is just coming out of its breeding plumage and it’s head is starting to look speckled.

I heard a beautiful sound yesterday as hundreds, hopefully thousands, of Short-tailed Shearwaters returned to their burrows. You may have read that they have been on the missing list as they head back from Alaska. I’m hoping to be able to share some images of them soon, and more importantly, I’m hoping that their late arrival won’t stop them having a safe and successful breeding season.

Happy birding

Kim

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