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White-winged tern        Images © Mark A. Chappell

The elegantly marked white-winged tern (sometimes called the white-winged black tern) is a spring and summer resident of parts of Europe and Asia, returning from their wintering grounds in Africa.  They breed in shallow marshes and flooded meadows, feeding on aquatic invertebrates.   I found them entrancing but extremely challenging photographic subjects because of their quick and extremely erratic flight and highly contrasty plumage; the pictures on this page are among the best of more than 1000 exposures shot at a breeding site at Zajki, near Biebrza National Park in northeastern Poland.  A near relative, the black tern, is found in North America.

  • Canon 1D3, 800 mm lens, hand-held (2009)