One good Tern .........

It was good to get an image of a Common Tern with a nice background that, I feel, gives perspective to the shot, too often I just seem to get them floating in mid air.

I really like their bouncy flight and the way they twist, turn and hover before diving down to the water sometimes changing their minds at the last minute.

Lovely birds.

a glint in the eye ......

Common Terns are back in force with their squabbling keee-yaah call as they fly around the reserve.

I always find them easier to photograph over the River Nene as they tend to fly within the confines of the river banks whereas they can be very unpredictable and distant over the gravel pits.

A very welcome addition to our summer species.

Hawks are impressive and aerobatic birds ....

..... but the Common Tern has to be up there with most high speed raptors for their flying style and ability as they bounce around in the air over water and meadows.

They hover, they dive, they can turn direction on a sixpence, they '' hawk '' insects and Dragonflies in mid-air like Hobby's and in the case of this image they are so confident that they can '' take their eyes off the road '' and look skywar!s without bumping into anything.

I wish I could do the latter !  .... as an amateur bird and wildlife photographer I spend a lot of time looking up into the sky and woodland canopy whilst walking along .... resulting in the occasional trip up on uneven ground ....  can you identify with me on this or is it just me ?

One good Tern ........

I just love to watch Common Terns, they are tremendous with their bouncy aerobatics as they hunt and dive for fish.

In my experience I have found that they are easier to photograph from a bridge over a river rather than a larger expanse of water as they tend to stay within the confines of the river banks and you can also get nearer to their flight level.

The other thing that I have noticed through observation behaviour-wise is that they '' hawk '' Dragonflies '' like birds of prey. In this connection I attach an image that I got as a record shot with sincere apologies for the quality.

I have also seen them hawking over meadows in the late afternoon and early evening rather like Swallows

                                                                Great flyers

                                                                  Just starting a dive

 I am not usually a fan of '' head-on '' images but in this case I rather liked the composition       

    I may be wrong but I think the fish is a Pike

Hawking a Dragonfly -  a record shot taken hurriedly at long range, apologies once again for the image quality.