ML33050711

Age and sex

Juvenile, Unknown sex - X

Media notes

Common Tern. Lake Perris, CA. 20 Aug 2016. Photo by Julie Szabo.

Observation details

Continuing bird found earlier in the day by Bob McKernan. After 1.5 hours of looking, and having to slowly move closer to the location, we finally observed the presumably juvenile/immature Common Tern as it stood on the shoreline at the extreme east end of the lake, on a peninsula between large stands of cattails. It was in a large, mixed flock of Caspian and Forster's Terns, with many Mallards and Gadwall obscuring views. It wasn't until the ducks flew off and the terns moved around that we could find it. The bird spent most of the time looking away from us, and it wasn't until it turned that we found it. The tern appeared to be the same relative size as the nearby Forster's Terns. The forehead was white, with a black crown and nape. Gray upper parts with a dark carple bar visible. White below. The legs and feet were difficult to see, but appeared an orange color. The bill appeared to be darker at the tip and a dark reddish at the base. We were able to take a few photos, then it flew a few feet to the north, and hid among the Forster's Terns, and we could not see it again. Photos attached, one shown with Caspian and Forster's Terns for comparison.

Technical information

Model

DMC-FZ70

ISO

100

Focal length

215 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.9

Shutter speed

1/640 sec

Dimensions

3072 pixels x 2304 pixels

Original file size

2.14 MB