common tern
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Let's start something else, a photograph a day type of post. Just a picture and the story behind it.

I noticed this bird hunting along a channel that also had some tufted ducks, a mute swan family and a few grebes. I like terns, nice colouring and interesting behaviour the way they swoop down and plunge into the water to catch a fish. In flight it reminds you of a black headed gull sometimes until you seem them close to eachother, the tern is significantly smaller.

Now, like all mainly white birds these are tricky, it's all too easy to blow the white bits. Additionally you want a nice and high shutter speed to capture any sharpness.

So, I metered on something middle brownish on the ground and set the camera manually for it. Then a matter of tracking and keeping focus.

Nikon D300, Sigma 150-500
Exposure 1/3200 sec
Aperture f/6.3
Focal Length 500 mm
ISO Speed 500
Subject Distance 21.1 m

Had to crop because it was in the bottom left of the frame.