Foster's tern - A plunge-diving expert

Main - Foster's tern flying.  Top Left:  Plunge diving.  Bottom Left:  Coming away with a fish.

While exploring the shoreline of Lake Wabamun, Alberta, I came across an awesome sight.  Terns were using the windy conditions to hover while searching for fish.  Then, in a decisive moment, a bird would plunge headlong into the water, submerge completely, and come up with a fish.  Not every time, mind you, but I did manage to photograph one successful individual.

I was using my new Nikon Z6iii and 180-600 mm zoom lens.  I had the subject selection set to bird mode (yes, that's a thing!), with continuous focusing and 3D image tracking engaged.  Photographing them while flying parallel to the shoreline wasn't difficult, but trying to keep up with them when they were diving was very challenging.  I took about thirty photos all together.  I thought I might return to take some more the next day, but this was the only day they were present.  Perhaps it's just as well; it would take hundreds of photos to come up with the shot I was hoping for.

What I like about the Z6iii is that I can shoot at high ISOs with little noise.  This allows me to use very high shutter speeds, which in turn means less movement blur from the subject.  I was shooting with an ISO of 800 and getting a shutter speed of 1/2500th of a second.  The subject tracking and focusing worked very well; you could see the camera tracking the bird in real time, even picking out its eye for the focal point.  It has been a joy to use.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com


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