{"id":138401,"date":"2024-12-30T02:49:06","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T08:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=138401"},"modified":"2024-12-30T06:05:25","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T12:05:25","slug":"i-saw-my-first-forsters-terns-at-sequoyah-nwr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/30\/i-saw-my-first-forsters-terns-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","title":{"rendered":"I Saw My First Forster’s Terns At Sequoyah NWR"},"content":{"rendered":"

On my most recent trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I saw, but didn\u2019t photograph, Forster\u2019s Terns flying and hunting over Sally Jones Lake.<\/p>\n

\"Forster'sForster’s Tern in flight over the Gulf – Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida – 2009<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn’t have my camera in hand, but I enjoyed watching the terns diving into the lake and flying along the opposite shoreline. I couldn\u2019t help but smile.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve photographed Forster\u2019s Terns on the Gulf Coast of Florida during their nonbreeding season and loved the experience. I could sand-crawl up to the resting terns, take photos, sand-crawl backward, and not disturb them at all. And I had a blast taking images of the terns in flight.<\/p>\n

\"AutumnAutumn Forster’s Tern in flight over a marsh – Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah – 2017<\/span><\/p>\n

When I lived in Utah, I saw and photographed Forster\u2019s Terns at Farmington Bay WMA, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, and a local pond near home.<\/p>\n

And hopefully, now I’ll be able to photograph them in both Oklahoma and Arkansas. In addition to the Forster\u2019s Terns during the warmer months, I’ve seen Least Terns at the refuge<\/span><\/a>, but they were too far away to photograph. I’m hoping to get images of the Least Terns next summer!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Forster\u2019s Tern photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On my most recent trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I saw, but didn\u2019t photograph, Forster\u2019s Terns flying and hunting over Sally Jones Lake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,1148,25,1412,704,26],"tags":[970,5132,4620,4052,4122,5886,173,4094,4246,4018,4354,2090,629,4095,373],"class_list":["post-138401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-florida","category-forsters-terns","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-utah","tag-autumn","tag-coastal","tag-fall","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-forsters-tern","tag-gulf-coast","tag-marsh","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-sky","tag-sterna-forsteri","tag-tern","tag-terns","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/forsters-tern-flight-mia-mcpherson-3863.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-A0h","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46475,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/26\/breeding-and-nonbreeding-forsters-terns\/","url_meta":{"origin":138401,"position":0},"title":"Breeding and Nonbreeding Forster’s Terns","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The differences in breeding and nonbreeding plumage of Forster's Terns is enough that some bird watching and bird photography novices might even think that they are two different species of terns.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Forster's Tern mated pair on nest, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/forsters-terns-nest-mia-mcpherson-2469.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/forsters-terns-nest-mia-mcpherson-2469.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/forsters-terns-nest-mia-mcpherson-2469.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/forsters-terns-nest-mia-mcpherson-2469.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48415,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/10\/forsters-tern-with-prey-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":138401,"position":1},"title":"Forster’s Tern With Prey At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I have had fun photographing Forster's Terns the last few times I have gone to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, they are graceful, beautiful terns and they challenge my skills.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Forster's Tern after successful dive for prey","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/forsters-tern-food-mia-mcpherson-6798.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/forsters-tern-food-mia-mcpherson-6798.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/forsters-tern-food-mia-mcpherson-6798.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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friend","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/foresters-tern-mia-mcpherson-6401.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/foresters-tern-mia-mcpherson-6401.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/foresters-tern-mia-mcpherson-6401.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/foresters-tern-mia-mcpherson-6401.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4752,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/08\/forsters-terns\/","url_meta":{"origin":138401,"position":3},"title":"Forster’s Terns","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"When I moved from Florida to Utah I felt it was fortunate that some of the nonbreeding birds I used to see in Florida during the winter I now get to see in breeding plumage on their nesting grounds.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Forster's Tern in breeding plumage on nest","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/forsters-tern-nest-mia-mcpherson-2961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/forsters-tern-nest-mia-mcpherson-2961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/forsters-tern-nest-mia-mcpherson-2961.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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