These Little Birds Are Fast! But Not Always Fast Enough…

Earlier this week we had a few of these little super fast flying terns fishing in the salt marsh.

They make me dizzy trying to follow one as it darts about erratically at hyper speeds.

At one point I was tracking this tern as it came swooping in and then seemed to zero right in on it’s prey. It did a quick hover, followed by a rapid descent, where it appeared to have successfully grabbed a nice fish.

But either the tern was so fast it didn’t take time to get a good grasp on the fish, or the fish in this case was even faster then the tern. Because the bird blasted up out of the water minus the fish who could be seen safely swimming away.

I did see some fish get nabbed by these fast flyers, and I’ll have photos of that scene a little later on.

16 thoughts on “These Little Birds Are Fast! But Not Always Fast Enough…”

The Lite Rider on November 14, 2014 at 5:52 pm said:

Really enjoyed the action sequence. Interesting he didn’t come up with a catch — as you noted the fish got away safely. These guys definitely look like they are built for speed.

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- Phil Lanoue on November 14, 2014 at 6:55 pm said:
  
  Actually… as I look more closely at the little fish, I do see what appears to be a red gash on it’s side, probably from where the tern initially hit it. The poor little guy might have swam off but if it’s badly injured will become somebody else’s dinner.
  
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Mike Powell on November 14, 2014 at 5:53 pm said:

Wow! These shots are amazing. That fish sure got lucky this time.

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- Phil Lanoue on November 14, 2014 at 6:56 pm said:
  
  Thanks for checking these out Mike and glad you liked seeing one get away! 🙂
  
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Chillbrook on November 14, 2014 at 6:02 pm said:

Amazing pictures Phil. Love those feet! Very trendy! 🙂

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- Phil Lanoue on November 14, 2014 at 6:57 pm said:
  
  I understand those snappy looking red feet are all the rage in Paris these days. 🙂
  
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Laurie MacBride, Eye on Environment on November 14, 2014 at 6:10 pm said:

Exquisite photos of a beautiful little bird, Phil!

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- Phil Lanoue on November 14, 2014 at 6:58 pm said:
  
  Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed our fast flying terns Laurie!
  
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Vicky on November 14, 2014 at 9:35 pm said:

Beautiful wing patterns on those little terns! I agree with Chillbrook on those cute little red feet. The look on that minnows face is priceless. Another episode of “As the World Terns”.

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- Phil Lanoue on November 15, 2014 at 8:15 pm said:
  
  Ha! “As the World Terns” Love it! I’ll have to steal, uh, I mean use that for an upcoming tern post title! 😀
  Those feet really are special aren’t they?!
  
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foxleylady on November 15, 2014 at 6:46 am said:

These pictures of these beautiful little birds are fantastic, Phil! They fly so fast, it’s hard to keep up with them without trying to photograph them as well!

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- Phil Lanoue on November 15, 2014 at 8:16 pm said:
  
  I must look like a crazy person out there whipping my camera around trying to follow these fast little guys. 🙂
  
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Pat on November 15, 2014 at 6:14 pm said:

Great captures!

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- Phil Lanoue on November 15, 2014 at 8:16 pm said:
  
  I appreciate you looking and commenting Pat, thanks!
  
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dinajohnston on November 15, 2014 at 8:50 pm said:

Great details and color. These guys are so hard to get when they are hovering like that.

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Suryanarayana Jagarlapudi on January 4, 2015 at 1:40 am said:

I am amazed to see what 7D Mk II can do in your hands. I have no way of processing RAW files but your pictures tell me that JPegs are very good.

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