Photos from the last two evenings

I have now spent two splendid evenings at the Tern and Gull colony.

I went out to check the status and see how everything proceeded in the colony. I had hope for action and that was surely what I got.

There was a frantic activity mostly among the Common Terns. They had a shuttle service with fish being brought back to the juveniles whom crave a lot of food now.

This was exactly the time I have been waiting for so I just sat down and watched the action in the colony. I had mostly Common Terns nearby and the pace was really hectic when the decided to squabbled over fish. Unfortunately I didn´t manage to get those interaction photos, but the amount of material I had from the first evening felt good when I went back home. I got the idea to pass by Gasklockan to see if the Peregrine Falcons were there and to my surprise I got there just in time as the two juvenile birds was up flying. Soon the female joined and you can see one of those photos in the gallery.

During the first evening I noticed a behavior when the Terns drank water while flying. I wanted to capture that moment so I decided to head out straight after work to spend more time at the colony.

That meant I got there two hours earlier than on Monday evening. The activity weren´t as frantic as the evening before and the early arrival meant I had to work hard with exposure compensation as the light was really hard. Still I got some really good photos and this sequence is the one I found most interesting.

It is an adult Black-headed Gull that attacks a juvenile Gull. That is at least what I think I have framed. The adult came straight at the juvenile and it seems to be attacking the head. The juvenile fought back and the sequence ended when a Common Tern swooped down and attacked the adult Gull. An interesting sequence that show a behavior I haven´t seen before.

Nature is sometimes harsh.

Photo Gallery: Photos from the last two evenings