October morning

  

Yesterday (10 October 2024) Eric and I made a quick trip to Chatham, Massachusetts, and encountered a nice flock of Forster's Terns (Sterna forsteri).  

The terns flew to a sandbar, spent some time roosting and preening, then some individuals took off and started diving on a school of fish in shallow water.  The autumn light was nice and I don't often get to spend much quality time with Forster's Terns, so here are a few photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a relatively large flock of Forster's Terns, ~250 birds.  I didn't get a photo of the entire flock, but here's one that shows the general scene.  [You can click on any of the images for larger versions.] 

 

 

 

And another showing the view to the south:

 

We left feeling grateful for an October morning on Cape Cod.