RH Speirs | Photographer - Black Terns

While out and about at a Provincial Park or Nature Reserve, likely the best thing that can happen while there, is that you encounter a new (to you) wildlife species. That's what happened for me on June 16th, 2022. I'd never seen a Black Tern bird before, didn't even know they existed. I have seen Common Terns a small handful of times over the past couple of years, but not these Black Terns. So naturally I was delighted when they showed up, and were flying around the Marshall Springs ponds at Fish Creek Provincial Park that day. They were flying all around the ponds searching for insects and small fish to eat. As far as I could tell, there were up to three of them flying about at times, but usually it was just one of them at a time, about 95% of the time I'd say. It was fun trying to photograph them as there were flying around, but tricky too. Because they're both black and white, it made it a bit difficult to get the exposure settings on the camera correct, not much room for error in that regard. Also, they were flying all around obviously, diving, and dipping from bright areas to dark areas as backdrops..not easy getting all the camera settings adjusted correctly, and quickly enough. It was a good workout trying to dial in the correct setting while all this was going on for sure. One more thing, The eye is always what I'm aiming for when focusing the camera on any living subject, so the Terns black eyes on a black head and body made it particularly difficult to focus accurately. The cameras autofocus relies on contrast to be able to focus correctly, but these birds have no colour contrast in the eye area at all. Maybe only the catchlight within the eye, because it's shiny, and dullness of the feathers on the birds face makes for some contrast. Despite all these challenges, I feel as though I was able to capture some pretty good images here..quite happy with them for the most part. I'm hoping to see much more of these, new to me, Black Terns on future outings! Beautiful birds!

Black Tern (in flight), Marshall Springs ponds, Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary, AB - June 16th

Black Tern (in flight) with a small fish, Marshall Springs ponds, Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary, AB - June 16th

Black Tern (in flight), Marshall Springs ponds, Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary, AB - June 16th

Black Tern (in flight) with a small fish, Marshall Springs ponds, Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary, AB - June 16th

Black Tern (in flight), Marshall Springs ponds, Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary, AB - June 16th

Black Terns - Calgary, AB

You may also like