Among the many joys photography has brought me, particularly wildlife photography, is learning more about a subject, usually after I have shot it. I really like this photograph of a Royal Tern Colony taken a few years ago. Researching Royal Terns today I found out that their eggs incubate for about 25-30 days. After hatching the chicks remain in their “scrape”, a nest on the ground, for about a week following which they leave their nests and form a group called a creche. This photo shows the creche (the chicks standing in a group on the marsh surface) with parents hovering just above their heads. All heads, well all but one anyway, are turned attentively to their left, most likely watching as food is about to arrive in the mouths of parent terns who will seek out their own offspring. This Royal Tern colony thrived annually for a number of years on a marsh island in the bay just west of Ocean City, MD. Sadly, for the terns, Laughing Gulls have taken over that island and the Royal Terns have had to find another nesting site.
