{"id":42117,"date":"2016-09-23T06:19:19","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T12:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=42117"},"modified":"2026-02-06T18:29:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T00:29:22","slug":"elegant-forsters-tern-in-flight-with-a-touch-of-added-canvas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/23\/elegant-forsters-tern-in-flight-with-a-touch-of-added-canvas\/","title":{"rendered":"Elegant Forster&#8217;s Tern In Flight With A Touch Of Added Canvas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-136606 size-full\" title=\"An elegant Forster's Tern in flight\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/forsters-tern-elegant-mia-mcpherson-3884.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/forsters-tern-elegant-mia-mcpherson-3884.jpg\" alt=\"An elegant Forster's Tern in flight over the Gulf of Mexico near Fort De Soto County Park,\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/forsters-tern-elegant-mia-mcpherson-3884-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/forsters-tern-elegant-mia-mcpherson-3884-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/forsters-tern-elegant-mia-mcpherson-3884-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/forsters-tern-elegant-mia-mcpherson-3884-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/forsters-tern-elegant-mia-mcpherson-3884-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/forsters-tern-elegant-mia-mcpherson-3884-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/forsters-tern-elegant-mia-mcpherson-3884-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/forsters-tern-elegant-mia-mcpherson-3884.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">An elegant Forster&#8217;s Tern in flight &#8211; Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/750, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 250mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve always loved this image of a Forster&#8217;s Tern in flight because the pose is wonderful and the tern looks elegant against the gray of a distant storm cloud. It also reminds me of a terrific morning spent photographing birds on the north beach of Fort De Soto during stormy weather and a day when bait fish were running in the shallow waves near the shore causing a massive feeding frenzy among pelicans, gulls and terns.<\/p>\n<p>The problem with this image, before processing, was that the tern was very close to the bottom edge of the frame and it wrecked any chances for a pleasing composition. I couldn&#8217;t bring myself to delete the file so instead I added a touch of canvas to the bottom of the frame in post-processing. Typically I don&#8217;t add canvas or do much extra messing around in Photoshop but in this case I chose to do so to save the image from being tossed into my delete bin.<\/p>\n<p>So this image may never be printed or published but I will still enjoy it.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p><em>Photo taken in January of 2009<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Click <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/forsters-tern-images\/\">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":"<p>I&#8217;ve always loved this image of a Forster&#8217;s Tern in flight because the pose is wonderful and the tern looks elegant against the gray of a distant storm cloud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136606,"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":[27,25,1412,704,2000],"tags":[4004,5132,5442,4052,4122,2120,4031,4246,4018,4354,2090,629,373],"class_list":["post-42117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-forsters-terns","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-coastal","tag-elegant","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-forsters-tern-2","tag-nonbreeding","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-sky","tag-sterna-forsteri","tag-tern","tag-terns","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/forsters-tern-elegant-mia-mcpherson-3884.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-aXj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7959,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/03\/28\/forsters-tern-and-friend\/","url_meta":{"origin":42117,"position":0},"title":"Forster&#8217;s Tern And Friend","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This Forster's Tern image was taken several years ago on Fort De Soto County Park's north beach while it was resting on the sand as another tern was flying towards us both.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Forster's Tern and 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":42117,"position":1},"title":"Forster&#8217;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 &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/forsters-tern-nest-mia-mcpherson-2961.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46475,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/26\/breeding-and-nonbreeding-forsters-terns\/","url_meta":{"origin":42117,"position":2},"title":"Breeding and Nonbreeding Forster&#8217;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 &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":9371,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/09\/03\/waves-and-a-forsters-tern\/","url_meta":{"origin":42117,"position":3},"title":"Waves And A Forster&#8217;s Tern","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The nonbreeding Forster's Tern in these two images is the same bird and the images were taken ten frames and a few seconds apart as the tern stood on the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico in Florida.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Forster's Tern in front of a light colored wave","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/forsters-tern-mia-mcpherson-5957.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/forsters-tern-mia-mcpherson-5957.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/forsters-tern-mia-mcpherson-5957.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/forsters-tern-mia-mcpherson-5957.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":42117,"position":4},"title":"Forster&#8217;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 &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/forsters-tern-food-mia-mcpherson-6798.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":138401,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/30\/i-saw-my-first-forsters-terns-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":42117,"position":5},"title":"I Saw My First Forster&#8217;s Terns At Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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 flight over the Gulf, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/forsters-tern-flight-mia-mcpherson-3863.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/forsters-tern-flight-mia-mcpherson-3863.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/forsters-tern-flight-mia-mcpherson-3863.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/forsters-tern-flight-mia-mcpherson-3863.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}