ML620838705

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

After nearly completing my loop of the south ponds I noticed four terns sitting on a concrete culvert pipe in the middle of pond 11 (38.656433, -121.711957) at 8:15am -- two larger and two much smaller. I initially thought they were Caspian and Forster's, but on closer inspection the two larger birds were Forster's and the smaller pair were least. They spent the morning alternately sitting on the culvert pipes and flying around the south ponds, foraging for small fish. I stayed on them until ~11:30am, with about a dozen other birders coming to see the terns throughout the morning. Photos. For anyone chasing, note that the south ponds are open from 7:30am-3:30pm on weekdays, and please be mindful of the stilts and avocets nesting along the levees.

Technical information

Model

NIKON D500

Lens

500.0 mm f/5.6

ISO

900

Focal length

500 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/4000 sec

Dimensions

1121 pixels x 1023 pixels

Original file size

358.41 KB