Let Me Feed You, Honey

Figure 1. Forster's Tern, Mountain View Shoreline Park, CA.

Mountain View Shoreline Park in the Bay Area of California is one of the best place to do bird watching. Many people take a stroll or do jogging here. So birds in this park see lots of people every day and are habituated to people. In general, their distance is closer than birds in other places.

Among all the birds in this park, Forster's tern is one of the most abundant. Most of the time I went here to see and shoot them. They usually hover over the lake and then dive to catch small fish or others. From what I have observed, they are territorial. When other birds are in the vicinity of an occupied tern, the "host" will make sound to ask them away. If these birds are still staying around, the "host" will fly to chase them away.

It seems to me May or June is the mating season and you may see two birds forming a pair. When one tern dive to catch a fish, the other will make sound for the fish. And that's how you may get a shot like Figure 1. In fact, I saw the similar scene many times, but I miss the shot for some time. For others it is too far for a quality shot, the lighting is not good enough, or the focus is not accurate enough. I am still looking for a better shot for this. Well, May is coming and hopefully I can make it.