HOME | DD

Description
After feeding the juvenile, the adult Common Tern literally stood on the juvenile's beak for a very brief moment, and used it to lift itself off. You can tell the juvenile knew it was coming, because with the fish now in its mouth, it braced itself for the adult. If you look at its tail feathers, you can see it has them flat against the rock in order to keep itself stable for its parent. I rarely boast on the uniqueness of the moments I capture in nature, but this isn't something you normally see captured in a photograph. The feeding and then liftoff happened during a tiny fraction of a second, and I somehow managed to capture this ridiculous behavior.

Sandy Hook - Gateway National Park
Middletown, New Jersey

August 20, 2009

Description
After feeding the juvenile, the adult Common Tern literally stood on the juvenile's beak for a very brief moment, and used it to lift itself off. You can tell the juvenile knew it was coming, because with the fish now in its mouth, it braced itself for the adult. If you look at its tail feathers, you can see it has them flat against the rock in order to keep itself stable for its parent. I rarely boast on the uniqueness of the moments I capture in nature, but this isn't something you normally see captured in a photograph. The feeding and then liftoff happened during a tiny fraction of a second, and I somehow managed to capture this ridiculous behavior.

Sandy Hook - Gateway National Park
Middletown, New Jersey

August 20, 2009