{"id":48344,"date":"2017-09-04T06:01:33","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T12:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48344"},"modified":"2022-09-13T03:58:47","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T09:58:47","slug":"juvenile-and-adult-forsters-terns-in-flight-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/04\/juvenile-and-adult-forsters-terns-in-flight-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Juvenile and Adult Forster’s Terns in Flight at Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NonbreedingNonbreeding adult Forster’s Tern in flight with prey – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/4000, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of last month I had fun photographing Forster’s Terns at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah. Forster’s Terns breed in the marshy areas surrounding the Great Salt Lake and I have even seen them on their nests at the refuge some years. Forster\u2019s Terns are migratory although it is the only tern found in North America throughout the entire year.<\/p>\n

Right now these terns at the refuge are busy feeding their young although some of the juvenile Forster’s Terns have already learned how to capture prey on their own. There are plenty of small fish for them to dive for and catch at the refuge and it is amazing to see the adults and juveniles hovering over the water and to watch them splash down and come up with prey.<\/p>\n

The adult pictured above has gone into its nonbreeding plumage, its black cap would be solid black during the breeding season and its bill would be bright orange near the base and have a black tip. Its tiny feet would also be a brighter orange than shown in this photo.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Forster’s Tern in flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The juvenile Forster’s Terns have some gingery brown plumage mixed in with their grey, black and white feathers and their dark masks aren’t quite as dark as the masks of the adults. Some of the young terns at Bear River MBR are still begging the adults to feed them and they can make quite a racket.<\/p>\n

It won’t be long before our Forster’s Terns migrate to the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf coasts to spend the winter. Hopefully I will be able to spend more time photographing these lovely terns and their young before they do.<\/p>\n

Life is 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":"

Right now these terns at the refuge are busy feeding their young although some of the juvenile Forster’s Terns have already learned how to capture prey on their own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48339,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,1412,26],"tags":[4004,4052,5886,4071,610,4106,4354,2090,629,3996],"class_list":["post-48344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-forsters-terns","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-flight","tag-forsters-tern","tag-juvenile","tag-marshes","tag-prey","tag-sterna-forsteri","tag-tern","tag-terns","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/forsters-tern-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-8841.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-czK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":138401,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/30\/i-saw-my-first-forsters-terns-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":48344,"position":0},"title":"I Saw My First Forster’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 "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 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, 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22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This Forster's Tern was hovering while hunting over a unit of water on the auto tour route of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah in clear morning light.","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":"Hovering, hunting Forster's Tern in breeding plumage","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/forsters-tern-breeding-adult-mia-mcpherson-7450.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/forsters-tern-breeding-adult-mia-mcpherson-7450.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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