The Karate Tern

[Romy Ocon]

Remember the 1984 movie The Karate Kid, starring Ralph Macchio (as the kid) and Pat Morita (as the teacher)? Let me embed a small poster courtesy of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Karate_Kid.




Here's the avian equivalent of the Karate Kid - wings upraised, standing on a pole near a body of water and one leg raised. Both the original Karate Kid and the newcomer Karate Tern are in breeding colors too! The only difference is the Tern is the Whiskered one in the photo, while in the movie it is the teacher (Pat Morita) that has whiskers.

;D ;D ;D


Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybridus, migrant, breeding plumage)
Shooting info - Binmaley, Pangasinan, April 22, 2010, 7D + 400 2.8 IS + 1.4x TC, 475B/3421 support, 560 mm, f/5.6, ISO 400, 1/2500 sec, manual exposure in available light, near full frame, 20.4 m distance, GPS Latitude = 16°00'56.69", GPS Longitude = 120°15'15.48".




Capture trivia - I was training my camera on this bird while it was perched, in the hope that I could catch a take off shot. It appeared to start taking off but hesitated, so it had to spread its wings to regain balance. I was able to fire a couple of shots and this is the second one. The fast 8 fps of the 7D helped get the decisive moment as far as the wing position is concerned.

[Renoir Abrea]

nice capture and title'

[Ely Teehankee]

Birds in breeding plumage are so much more beautiful compared to when they are not. I like the pose as it is about to take off. It makes it look so much livelier. Well done Romy. Mabuhay.

[Edu Lorenzo Jr]

Ah but that is the crane technique...

The Tern is lovely! Very refreshing to see a tern in a different pose, other than flying or standing up.

Thank you so much for sharing this mastah!

[Lydia Robledo]

This one joins the list of my Ka Mastah favorites. Lovely. Very lovely. It's a picture that paints a thousand words, a picture that makes me love the Creator more. To Him be the praise. How blessed you are with your skills. How blessed we are with your sharing. Salamat po.
happy telyds

[mantarey]

Beautiful capture showing fine details of its distinct breeding plumage. Love the "BIF pose" too.

[JV Noriega]

The Tern's pose is dynamic as if purposely showing details of its plumage,,, first time i've seen a Tern in breeding plumage, thanks for sharing, Mastah!

[William Lim]

Great shot. Exposure is perfect. It is difficult to get a good exposure to bring out details of black and white subjects.

[Mark Itol]

Superb job freezing the pose and controlling the exposure, Ka Mastah!

[Romy Ocon]

Thanks folks for the comments!

I found time to process the first of the two-shot burst (the original post is the second in the burst).

Shooting info - Binmaley, Pangasinan, April 22, 2010, 7D + 400 2.8 IS + 1.4x TC, 475B/3421 support, 560 mm, f/5.6, ISO 400, 1/2500 sec, manual exposure in available light, near full frame, 20.4 m distance, GPS Latitude = 16°00'56.69", GPS Longitude = 120°15'15.48".

[Ely Teehankee]

[/quote]

I like this picture even better. What a lovely pose. I must go and see this beautiful place that you have discovered. I have to look for the time to be able to go there. I am really excited about seeing this place and tasting the food. Thank you for sharing Romy. Mabuhay.

[Raymon Maranga]

ahahahahhahah fantastic...greats hot sir!!

[Edu Lorenzo Jr]

picture is so fantastic that I learned something. I didn't know terns had half-webbed feet!

Thank you for sharing mastah! Both sharing and educational.

[Agerico M. De Villa]

Almost missed this one. Karate tern indeed, quality shots indeed. This is the first time I have noticed that whiskered terns have this one speck of a dark feather on the tip of one of its phalanges during breeding season. Thank you for sharing!

[Toto Gamboa]

Beautiful mastah! Whew. So beautiful!