July 27, 2011

Tern

Tern
Question: Is this a Least Tern or a Royal Tern? For the SDP staff, the least of our worries should be bird identification; however, occasionally it's a royal pain. I would hate for things to take an ugly turn and for staff to misidentify this feathered creature...but, I'm not 100% sure. I suspect it's a Royal, though.  These are the burning issues which are debated ad nauseam at the SDP Headquarters. By the way, this cute fellow was spotted soaring over Sarasota Bay near Ken Thompson Park.

6 comments:

Kate said...

Birds in flight are very attractive whether they are cruising, soaring, or landing and take-off. Enjoy this one enormously.

Jim Klenke said...

hes on cruise control, i didnt know there were types of terns besides left and right.

Halcyon said...

Great capture! He looks so aerodynamic.

Jack said...

Ummm, and there is a reason why we need to know its name? I'm going with tern. The SRQ team seems to be very demanding on itself. Nice picture.

Lois said...

Soaring is a perfect word for this shot! I'm not sure about the identification though. TDP staff have to be careful when debating topics like this because sometimes tempers flare and then nothing gets posted.

Dina said...

It's a royal tern. The least has a yellower bill and has a black mask that runs over it's eyes.

Nice flight shot!