It seemed like such a simple and fun assignment- find Black Terns and photograph them for an upcoming publication.
Black Terns are one of the nearly 230 wildlife species that call California ricelands home, so I knew that a little sleuthing would lead to success.
As the sun rose Friday I headed north on I-5 to Williams and was expertly guided to Black Tern habitat by family rice farmer Jim LaGrande, who has seen these birds in and around his farm for about a decade.
The good news is we found 9 or 10 Black Terns. The challenging news is that we found 9 or 10 Black Terns.
It’s nesting time and these birds are a bit protective. I understand their desire to safeguard their young. It did make the photography rather challenging, as the terns took turns showing their displeasure through squawks and aerial acrobatics. (In fact, one tern complained loudly for quite some time, all the while carrying its supper- a big, fat dragonfly- in its beak.)
Finally, their patience came to an abrupt end. Two snapping cranky terns came within inches of me and drove home the point that my visit was over.
Knowing these birds would be excitable; I set my camera up for burst mode – capturing multiple images with one push of the button to try to capture some action shots. Out of more than 400 images, I was happy with two of them.
Here’s a close up shot of a Black Tern, which had been hovering over my head.
And here’s a shot capturing the beauty of the rice field and the coast range in the backdrop.
Black Terns are part of the vast and varied ecosystem in California rice country. They may have an angry disposition, but I appreciate that they take their role as parents so seriously.
Jim Morris is Communications Manager for the California Rice Commission. Jim has worked in communications for more than 20 years. When he’s not on the job, he enjoys his family, faith, football, outrageous monster stories and running marathons.
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