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Birds > Charadriiformes > Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea

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Type of a picture initiating the gallery or a “contact” picture. It was taken near Gdańsk and let's hope it will come by to see its change to a better and more interesting one. Wingspan of an Arctic Tern is around 80 centimeters with a weight of around 100 grams.
Last minute news 06/2014 – Iceland
I’m glad that all the previous documentary pictures of this species now get into the archive. They are replaced by images which capture the charm of this little  bird. On several occasions Arctic terns in Iceland formed colonies on the ground, in easily accessible places. Near parking lots, on meadows, along the roadside. It was not difficult to find them. Approaching a colony of Arctic terns too close always ended the same way – they would defend  their colony, collectively attacking and tormenting the intruder. They are a graceful object to photograph indeed. I managed to capture a special moment between a male and a female, I guess. The male was giving the female its prey while in flight. She was sitting on a rock by a lake making a series of monotonous, short sounds. The male hang in the air nearby like a kestrel and dived for fish in turns. Successful hunting always ended in the male’s approaching the female and giving her his prey while in flight. In a few days I managed to take pictures which do not change the previous gallery so much, but rather create it anew. I didn’t have difficulties with recording the sound of this bird, especially due to the significantly reduced distance between me and the colony.
Last minute news 06/2018 – Iceland
Last minute news 07/2018 – Norway-Spitsbergen

They were not as numerous on Spitsbergen as in Iceland. They were, however, an attraction of nature for many tourists coming to Longyearbyen. Just two meters from the main tarmac road there was a nesting site of the tern. Everyone who passed by the road had to get known that it was reserved area of the bird. Squawks spreading around, marked attacks and defecating to a tourist- it was a system of repelling actions of the bird. There and in several other places were taken the photos that make the gallery more variable.

Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna paradisaea