Flying with a River Tern

Ever flown alongside a River Tern? Well, Ghumakkad almost did!
This is a real 'flight' story.

River Tern or Indian River Tern is a slender and sleek bird-- grey and white in colour with a distinct yellow beak and forked tail. Ghumakkad had shared many pictures of the Tern earlier. But these pictures invariably showed the River Tern perched on a rock or stationary near a river or canal-- like the picture below taken at Ranganathittu bird sanctuary in Karnataka, India.

To browse the full story on Ranganathittu and its rich variety of birds, click on the story 'Ranganathittu- Paradise for Bird watchers'.

Recently, while on a boat ride from Nagarjunasagar (a dam and reservoir n Krishna river Telangana) to Nagarjunakonda (name of the island), few River Terns decided to fly alongside the boat. These pictures were all taken from a moving motor boat and a 50mm lens. The pictures have not been photo-shopped, just cropped to flow with the story. Feel the low level expertise of River Terns.

 We also captured a short 40 second video of river terns in flight from our boat. However, engine noise has suppressed the commentary. But the terns are clearly visible. After the terns left, a cormorant took over the low level flight!

Hope you enjoyed 'flying' with the river terns.
More on Nagarjunasagar and Nagarjunakonda in next posts.

Thanks for browsing

    -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 21st June 2017