A Least Tern hunts for fish.
This column appeared in the Recorder on July 15, the Gazette on July 17 and the Eagle on July 20.
It was a Saturday morning on Cape Cod, which is usually problematic day because it is moving day. All of the weekly renters start heading off the Cape to make room for the next wave of renters and traffic can be an bear. However, I had the advantage of waking up on moving day and already being where I wanted to be. This gave me a wonderful opportunity to head to my absolute favorite Cape Cod destination – First Encounter Beach.
For those not familiar with this place, First Encounter Beach features some unbelievable sand flats that are completely exposed at low tide. When the water goes out there are untold acres of sandy ocean bottom that offer an amazing place to wander and look for small ocean creatures that become stranded in shallow pools. For humans this is a recreational endeavor, but for the local birds it is a major opportunity to capture some food. Thus, it can be a wonderful place for photography.
I arrived at 6 AM and found that the tide was low. There were plenty of birds in the area, but I actually couldn’t see the edge of the water. Extending all the way to the horizon there was just bare sand and a few shallow pools. These were popular with Willets and Greater Yellowlegs; shallow-water waders that probe the sand with long beaks in search of marine invertebrates. On more than one occasion I saw these birds come up with a small crab and gulp it down with relish.
The problem with this first visit to First Encounter was the weather. There was a strong, steady wind coming up from the south and there were a couple moments when the wind made whistling noises in the frames of my glasses. It was refreshing, but it did make the shallow water a little choppy when it might otherwise have been as smooth as glass. A second issue was the complete cloud cover that deprived me of direct morning light on my subjects. I was getting good photos, but I just wasn’t getting any great photos.
That all changed when I wandered past a long, slender trough of water that was the final drainage basin for the area nearest the beach. Relatively deep and about 100 yards in length this pool had clearly been a popular sanctuary for a large collection of sea life. This, in turn, had captured the attention of a pair of Least Terns (Sternula antillarum) and created the photographic situation that had the best chance of generating a great photo.
The smallest of the tern family, the Least Tern is about the size of a large swallow. They have very short legs with webbed feet and they have extremely long and tapered wings. These birds dive into the water for their food, but they must be able to hold steady in high winds to give themselves a chance to find it. These birds are the living embodiment of the word, “Sleek.”
So what I did was position myself near the exit channel of this large pool and wait for one of the pair to fly over and hover above this prime hunting spot. The strong wind turned out to be something of an advantage because I could predict the approach route the bird would use and I eventually figured out how to lock onto this very small and zippy target. In the end, after capturing dozens of photos, I selected this one to share with you today. An adult Least Tern hovering in the air while searching the water below for a delicious morsel. I love the arc of those wings!
And what do you suppose was the prime pick of the morning? I was amazed to see that time and time again the bird dove into the water and came up with a small shrimp. The reason that I was able to identify the food being caught was because the bird would then proceed to fly down the beach a ways where the second member of the pair was waiting. I am fairly certain that I was watching an adult male capturing these little tidbits and then offering them to his mate. She appeared to accept these little gifts with great enthusiasm, and the male repeatedly returned to the hunting spot where I was waiting to see him catch another little shrimp.
Least Terns nest on sandy beaches from New Hampshire all the way south to the coast of northeastern Mexico. There are also West Coast birds that live on the coast of central California south to the northwestern coast of Mexico. As breeding birds they require quiet areas where they can lay their eggs in nests that have been scraped out of the sand where the highest tides cannot reach. This is a tricky gamble for many nesting birds because one bad storm, or a particularly high tide can flood the nests and kill the eggs. It also requires that humans be willing to leave these sorts of places alone while the birds use them.
The Cape is a popular destination for summer vacations and I am certain that at least one of you has either recently been there, or will be headed out there shortly. First Encounter Beach is in the town of Eastham and directions are easy to get online. If you like beach combing, then this is a destination for you, but be advised that every day on the shore offers a different combination of weather factors that can make each day very different. I’ll explore this idea in next week’s column when I tell the story of my second visit to First Encounter Beach.