{"id":16038,"date":"2014-10-05T04:58:39","date_gmt":"2014-10-05T10:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=16038"},"modified":"2025-09-17T17:06:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T22:06:00","slug":"a-royal-bath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/10\/05\/a-royal-bath\/","title":{"rendered":"A Royal Bath"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BathingBathing Royal Tern – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

These two bathing Royal Tern images\u00a0remind me of the\u00a0warm April morning when I spent\u00a0time photographing different species splashing around in the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n

It seemed like one bird started it all by splashing around and soon there were Royal Terns, Laughing Gulls and Black Skimmers all splashing about in the warm, salty waters at low tide.<\/p>\n

I couldn’t resist laying down in the wet sand to get some nice low angle shots of the bathing birds.<\/p>\n

\"RoyalRoyal Tern with wings up…\u00a0 Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 280mm, natural light<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This Royal Tern spent quite a bit of time dipping itself under the shallow water\u00a0and splashing around before raising its wings and shaking off the water droplets before flying off to the sand to preen itself.<\/p>\n

All the terns in North America have ebony black eyes that can be difficult to see when they are in breeding plumage because of their black caps and\u00a0that makes it challenging for bird photographers to capture just the right moment for the catch lights to show and accentuate their eyes.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

These two bathing Royal Tern images remind me of the warm April morning when I spent time photographing different species splashing around in the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,2000,407],"tags":[4004,4373,4021,4053,4077,4376,2688,4267,4032],"class_list":["post-16038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-royal-terns","tag-adult","tag-bathing","tag-bird-photography","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-royal-tern","tag-splashing","tag-thalasseus-maximus","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/royal-tern-bathing-mia-mcpherson-5558.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4aG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56623,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/03\/15\/royal-tern-splashing-and-bathing-in-a-florida-lagoon\/","url_meta":{"origin":16038,"position":0},"title":"Royal Tern Splashing And Bathing In A Florida Lagoon","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This image of a splashing and bathing Royal Tern in a Florida lagoon was taken nearly ten years ago and I'd never processed it until today.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Royal Tern splashing and bathing, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/royal-tern-bathing-mia-mcpherson-5564.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/royal-tern-bathing-mia-mcpherson-5564.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2016","format":false,"excerpt":"When I lived in Florida I was able to see and photograph juvenile Royal Terns on the Gulf Coast were they could be seen along the shoreline and they were usually begging the adults for food.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Royal Tern at daybreak, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/royal-tern-juvenile-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-6951.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/royal-tern-juvenile-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-6951.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"August 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Every time I look at this tern image I laugh because my mind sees a tiny starfish stuck on the birds face that is actually its bill.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Royal Tern head on, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/royal-tern-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-6689.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/royal-tern-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-6689.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/royal-tern-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-6689.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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