Gone Fishin’ (Part II)

In my previous post I said that I watched two birds fishing close to shore and put up some photos of Northern Gannets diving for fish.. The second sighting was of two Caspian Terns. Caspian Terns migrate through our area and are not common. These were the first I have seen other than on the Gulf of Mexico where they winter. They are a large tern with a heavy red bill and no fork in their tails. They have a solid black cap but these were not in breeding plumage so there is some white mixed in.

The shape of the tail is clear in this next photo. And you can see the white mixing into the cap at the top of the head. There’s also a bit of fish in its mouth.

I also managed to get some photos of them in action as they grabbed small fish from the water just off shore. Not as spectacular as the high dive technique used by the Gannets in my previous post. But they do show a lot of skill.