Color photo. A Caspian Tern in flight. It is a white bird with black wingtips, a black 'cap', and brilliant red-orange beak.

I drove down to the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge last Friday, hoping to get some shots of migratory shorebirds.  My bookmark for the area on BirdCast had predicted high activity the night before, so I threw on the long lens and teleconverter, grabbed the monopod, and headed out.

I arrived well before high tide and spent a pleasant few hours ambling through the wetlands and out the boardwalk through the estuary.  There weren’t a lot of migratory birds, sadly, but what I did see was pretty great: a Caspian Tern cruising along the estuary looking for a meal.  I was able to get a sequence of shots showing one attempt to pull some lunch from the river.

I’ll have another post soon showing the non-shorebird wildlife I saw that day!

Gear: Nikon Z 7II, Sigma 150-600mm f5-6.3 + 1.4 Teleconverter

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Color photo. A Caspian Tern in flight. It is a white bird with black wingtips, a black 'cap', and brilliant red-orange beak.
Color photo. A Caspian Tern in flight. It is a white bird with black wingtips, a black 'cap', and a brilliant red-orange beak. It is facing the viewer, and is canted to its right, head pointing downward as though it has spotted something. Its tail feathers are spread wide in a fan shape.
Color photo. A Caspian Tern in flight. It is a white bird with black wingtips, a black 'cap', and a brilliant red-orange beak. Its wings are half folded as it gets ready to dive. Below it a wooden boardwalk with a tall wooden railing can be seen. Beyond is a forest of green trees, with a short hill in the far distance.
Color photo. A Caspian Tern diving straight down, in the moment its beak touches the water, before a splash has even begun. It is a white bird with black wingtips, a black 'cap', and a brilliant red-orange beak. Its wings are pulled back, pointing towards the sky. The opposite shore is visible, a muddy brown.
Color photo. A Caspian Tern, flying just above the water it has recently taken off from. Below it the water is disturbed from its recent dive. It is a white bird with black wingtips, a black 'cap', and a brilliant red-orange beak.