Today, Elegant Terns were once again a feature of Tomales Bay. You could see and hear them just about everywhere and many were actively fishing.
I've always been impressed with the plunge-diving abilities of terns. Here's a series of photos showing the process — a fly-by, hovering and searching, the point, the plunge, the splash, and catching a fish.
Many adult terns were still feeding young. In the foreground of the photo below, there's a juvenile on the left and an adult on the right.
If you haven't yet heard Elegant Terns, here's a recording made in White Gulch on Point Reyes today. With relatively high walls on three sides, White Gulch has wonderful acoustics. We landed our boat on a small sandbar and recorded this flock of terns as they circled and fed in the shallows nearby. Listen for the two-syllable keerik call of the adult terns and the sip-sip-sip begging calls of the juveniles. If you listen carefully, you can also hear two terns plunging into the water (at ~21 seconds and 26 seconds).
very nice - photos and recording - that happens so fast i can't believe you caught that in still shots !! c
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