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[chngpe01]

Not sure if it is a Common Tern (expert's ID appreciated). Anyway just wanted to share the fishing habits of these birds

Hunting above the water for small fishes




Diviing and plunging into the water








Recovery from the water


Up and away - an unsuccessful catch

[s_wrx]

ahhh.. FINALLY.. the pictures have shown themselves..

FANTASTIC series! great pics!

ps, my bet's a common tern, just like you ID'ed..

[Harlequin]

Good shots mate.

I was able to observe their feeding habits this late afternoon. Very fast and furious.

[Garion]

Very nice series of shots, Peng Eik, sharp and well exposed. Not easy to take these buggers as they are kinda small and are fast flyers, as Harlequin had mentioned. Amazing amount of detail in the tern's wings in the first pic. Thanks for sharing. Shot in Australia?

[Sgt. Pepper]

Very high standard shots. Well done.

[malkw]

wonderful series of shots that made me scroll down the page with excitment.

Thanks for sharing.

[espn]

I don't need to repeat what the others have said. This is indeed a great moment capture

[skfoo]

Interesting! Excellent captures!

[Wolfgang]

I like the first shot very much. Simply beautiful...

[Madcat II]

wow wow wow wow wow wow

[chngpe01]

Thank You all for your kind comments.

These birds have to work very hard for their catch, cos not every dive is successful as see here.

As they are so fast and unpredictable, shooting with 1.4x TC with AF is frustrating. I have to resort to using MF for all the shots, find them easier under those circumstances.

Cheers & Seasons Greetings

[tkdwhiz1188]

These are fantastic shots man!...if u dun mind me asking...wats 1.4x TC? wats MF?

[oeyvind]

Just lookup in a bird guide I have... it looks like either a black tern, Chlidonias niger or a black-naped tern, Sterna sumatrana... to my untrained eyes it look more like the former.

[erwinx]

reminds me of the 'winged migration' movie - the birds diving into the water fishing sequence

[chngpe01]

Thanks Erwin, if only there were many more of these the sight would be awesome, like those in the BBC David Attenborough - "Life of Birds" series.

Hi tkdwhiz1188, MF mean manual focus and 1.4x Tc is q.4 times teleconveter.

Hi Tim somehow I think the ID could be a Whiskered Tern instead, a careful look at the tail reveal that it is has a shortish shallow fork tail and short body similar to the Whiskered Tern. The rest like the Common Tern, Black Tern and Black naped have sharp forked tail.

[tkdwhiz1188]

Thanks for the reply! Btw...how do u put frames(borders) ard the pic? How do u even post pics?

[oeyvind]

Originally Posted by chngpe01 Hi Tim somehow I think the ID could be a Whiskered Tern instead, a careful look at the tail reveal that it is has a shortish shallow fork tail and short body similar to the Whiskered Tern. The rest like the Common Tern, Black Tern and Black naped have sharp forked tail.

It does look like a whiskered tern, Chlidonias hybridus. However, I don't think it's as the whiskered tern has red colored beak according to the AU bird guide, yours has black colored beak.

[SniperD]

Wonderful series!
patience paid off loved the 1st pic

[chngpe01]

tkdwhiz1188, check these thread: http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthrea...ighlight=frame
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthrea...ighlight=frame You can also do a search using the search function to check for threads relating to alot of subjects like these.

Thanks SniperD

Tim, Thanks for helping in the ID, you are correct about the bill, however it is only in adult breeding season that the bill is dark red, whereas in adult non breeding season it is blackish - references : A Field Guide to The Birds of SE Asia by Criag Robson, A Field Guide to The Birds of SE Aisa by Ben King, Martin Woodcock and E C Dickinson, A Photographic Guide to The Birds of Malaysia and Singapore by Morten Strange.

The guide " A photographic Guide to Birds of Australia by Peter Rowland" which I also have, stand corrected on non breeding season adult having red bill.

On deeper reading of the first 2 references I conclude that it is also not possible to be a Whiskered Tern from its behaviour ie Whiskered Tern feed by fluttering over the water surface and dipping bill into the water, whereas most other terns dive head first into the water when feeding.

In all I think it is most probably a Common Tern or perhaps a Little Tern

Cheers

[Vinnievinyl]

Peng Aik,

I believe this is a young Little Tern, the smallest of all terns(23cm).

It has been sighted in most of Singapore near sea side this year. Plumage of different young terns are all quite similar, you can only tell from it's size, behavior and some very specific detail like the color of bill, tail, and color of the legs etc. Size play a very big part so it all has to depend on looking at the actual bird, you are the best person to tell what tern it is.

It is unlikely to be a whiskered tern as you have mentioned, the body shape and bill color look different as well.

I have shot quite a number of little tern in close range, you can take a look to compare if yours is a little tern.

Cheers

Vincent