When I first saw this bird on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I thought it was a type of gull. However, its flying pattern—it repeatedly flew low above the water— suggested to me that it was some other kind of bird. When I looked at my photos afterwards and checked my bird identification book, I concluded that it was most likely some kind of tern.
When I posted an image to a birding forum in Facebook, one of the experts there informed me that it was a Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia), a bird that I had never before seen. He pointed out “the heavy red bill, extensive black on the underside of the primaries, short tail, and full black cap” that indicated that this was a Caspian Tern and not the somewhat similar-looking Royal Tern.
As the summer begins to wind down, I will gradually shift my attention from insects to birds as my primary subjects. In the meantime, I will still be focused a lot on my beloved dragonflies and butterflies, with an occasional tern (or re-tern) to the birds. 🙂
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Terns can be as hard to ID as they are to photograph 😁. Nice job on both.
Thanks, Ted. I am a little rusty with birds in flight after spending most of the summer chasing insects, but was pretty happy with the results, considering how far away the tern was.
😁, each spring at the rookeries I need to deal with the rust too 😁😂
Lovely series of tern photos, Mike, and it’s great that you were able to identify the species with the help of your friends. I could watch terns all day long. Your photos do a good job of capturing their superior flight and beauty.
Thanks, Jet. I am not used to seeing terns, so I was happy enough to find them in my birding identification book. Deciding on a species was too tough for me, though, so the Birding Virginia Facebook group was the place where I went for assistance.
Nice Mike! Sometimes it is a challenge to ID the subjects you are photographing! The older I get the more I have trouble!😊