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Saturday, February 25, 2017

A Royal Tern love affair

Well, we are about to enter spring season and I believe love is in the air. I went to the west end beaches of Sanibel this morning and had the opportunity to observe some Royal Terns and it was pretty evident that they were in breeding plumage and were doing some type of courtship.
At first I observed a few Royal Terns flying with fish in their bill while voicing their "keeey-y-yeer".


Then this pair really stood out in the crowd - standing tall while sporting beautiful breeding plumage....very dark and shaggy crest with brighter bills.


They walked side by side at first and then circled around each other.

Other Terns seemed interested in their display.



This went on for quite some time until people approached - which made all the birds fly off.


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4 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 26, 2017 at 2:06 PM

    How exciting! I've never seen this. On my way to a West Gulf beach right now and hope to see one of these performances. I love your posts, France! Also looking forward to you following progress of Snowy Plover breeding going on now.

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    1. France PaulsenFebruary 26, 2017 at 7:00 PM

      Thank you Paula. I hope you were successful in finding the Royal Terns and perhaps saw the next step.....never a boring moment while surrounded by the wildlife.

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  2. Patch DavisMarch 4, 2017 at 6:36 PM

    Gorgeous birds in prime breeding condition. Nice captures, France!

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    Replies
    1. France PaulsenMarch 7, 2017 at 6:00 AM

      Thanks Patch! Believe me the pleasure was all mine :)

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