Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Crested Terns.

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.


I went out to Inskip Point the other day but stopped first at Bullock Point.  This is south of Inskip and across Pelican Bay.  I was looking almost directly into the sun and Inskip Point was almost indistinguishable from Fraser Island directly behind it.  The only thing which really showed where the Point was were the glints of sunlight from the vehicles and the Barge out at the Point. ( All photos enlarge when clicked on. Then you can see the vehicles !)

There were very few shorebirds or sea-birds around that day.  The most interesting were a small group of Crested Terns (Sterna bergii) roosting at the edge of the water.  Crested Terns stay in this area all year round. The migratory terns have left for the northern hemisphere some time ago. I always think that Crested Terns look really 'scruffy' when they are out of breeding plumage and moulting all their feathers.  Their color is patchy and of course that crest on their heads is mostly gone.

The very white bird behind the Crested Terns is a Silver Gull.

The bird in the center of the photo is a young Tern.  It still has its juvenile plumage and was still making begging noises at one of the adults.


25 comments:

  1. I have never seen the Crested Terns here in Oman..Nice shots and have a great day!

    Shantana

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  2. they are really cute! but what captured me was the diamonds on the water in your first shot. :)

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  3. Great post of shore birds!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  4. Gorgeous, Mick! I really like the Crested Terns. Handsome birds!

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  5. Those are great shots of a superb tern Mick. Nice to see how that bill colour in your real life photograph compares with the field guides.

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  6. Loving the shimmering water and the terns, of course.!

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  7. There is just something about Terns that I love. Wonderful photos, thanks for sharing.

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  8. Isn't it just like an offspring to want attention. :)
    Wonderful shots of the Terns!
    I too love that glisten on the water in the first shot - beautiful!

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  9. the terns are beautiful but the shimmering/glimmering water in that first picture is stunning!!

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  10. I've never seen these pretty birds. Your photos are super and smile evoking.:)

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  11. Beautiful pictures you show.
    Wishing you a good day.
    Hanne Bente / hbt.finus.dk

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  12. I love the glittering sea in the first photo! The terns are lovely,

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  13. Wonderful shots of the Crested terns! I haven't seen them before (on blogs). Your first shot made me gasp!!

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  14. Birds and water, along with sunshine, does not get much better than that. Beautiful images!

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  15. Hi Mick
    Forget the Terns (OK it is your Bird Wednesday post) but the first photo of the glistening Ocean is fantastic.
    Denis

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  16. Wonderful shots, Mick!
    I managed to capture a group of Crested Terns when I shot the sunrise a couple of weeks ago at Wellington Point. I will be sharing them in the coming weeks along with the array of birds I discovered on Wynnum's Esplanade on Monday.

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  17. lol, there is no way you can say they are beautiful. They really look different. Nice capture Mick.

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  18. Hi there - the old cresties are a bit more cooperative than most birds I find - its not so hard to sneak up on them! But they do look a bit scruffy!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  19. The crested terns look like they're having bad hair days. So interesting that just that one type of terns stays there all year round.

    Your shore bird photos always make me yearn to be at the beach (a quiet one).

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  20. Awesome shots of the Crested Terns Mick! I especially like the close up with the gull sleeping in the background.

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  21. Nice photos of the Crested Terns. That Silver Gull looks interesting-- pure white unless there are markings on its head. Nice narrative, too, Mick.

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