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A new day dawns on a common tern, calling out as it perches on a post in the protected areas of Nickerson Beach in coastal NY. Terns have had a tough summer as entire broods were wiped out for unexplained reasons, possibly e-coli. When we were there last Wednesday evening we noticed only a handful of older chicks while dozens of childless common terns took to the water in search of food. Their summer burden having perished, their only purpose is to feed themselves. Still, we saw a few that appeared to be re-nesting, possibly in a hopeful attempt to begin anew. Life in the wild is a constant struggle and gets harder each year as we continue to further encroach on their native areas. Remember to #ShareTheShore.
There is nothing more magical than the bond between a parent and child. Here a Common Tern parent tends to its offspring at dinner time.
I’m heading over to a little darker side of Common Tern parenting today. My friends and I were elated to find this brand new family of Common Terns in June 2017. See the previous two posts for more images from this day. We watched in awe as the tiny terns scooted about and parents diligently brought food and brooded, our hearts filling to the brim. The mood changed on a dime and, without warning, a parent began attacking its tiny young nestling. We gaped in horror as we watched this confusing display. Throughout two days we witnessed this from multiple tern families and I am still unclear about the behavior. My initial thought was the adults educating their young about keeping within their own small region of the larger communal territory. Or, possibly, the young hatchling had accepted food from another tern, not one of its parents. Whatever the reason, I’m certain it is not out of cruelty, but out of some inscrutable instinct deemed suitable for raising their young to become successful adults. A short time after each attack, the tiny tern would push under its mother’s breast as she tenderly welcomed it back into her warm embrace. If you’d like to read more about my thoughts on perceptions of cruelty in nature, please view the article on my website at www.terifranzenphotography.com/perceptions-of-cruelty/
I photographed this Common Tern on our shores this summer and used a wide angle lens to for a common wider perspective.
C'est la première fois que j'avais l'occasion de voir une sterne pierregarin immature.
Merci de vos visites et commentaires :)
Common Tern / sterna hirundo. Straws Bridge, Derbyshire. 26/06/21.
A tender behavioural image made last year. The female Common Tern is incubating her youngest chick, tucked up safely beneath her. Meanwhile her older chick is begging for food by grasping her beak. Worth a try, though there was nothing available until the male returned with a Stickleback.
To the right of this intimate scene lies a broken egg, showing an embryo still in the egg sac. This was one of her clutch of three eggs and how it got broken is open to speculation. I would have thought if corvid(s) were responsible, the embryo would have been eaten.
BEST VIEWED LARGE.
Common Tern as it heads off to fish at Ladies Island Lake Co.Wexford.
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17-7-17.
All of the photographs on my gallery are protected by copyright and not to be used for ANYTHING without strict written permission from me, the photographer, Lauren Tucker.
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