Tag: Royal Tern

Spin the Wheel

True to Brad’s comment on a previous post, I did manage to find a 4th end of the candle to light ha. Tonight will be the last bit of rest before we start hauling everything down into the valley for the big event. By rest I mean squeezing in an 8+ mile night run (there is still a race to be ran after all this), assembly of a couple of remaining props and …well this rush of a post, Note, it would be incredibly gracious if I could get everyone out there to combine their willpower on a single objective..make it stop raining here!!! Similar to my last post, going to go with a truly random assortment of shots. Basically, opened the gallery folder of unpublished shots from our Texas trip back in January 2025 and spun the wheel on the mouse. Wherever it landed..that’s what you get – a couple of times my finger slipped and you simply got the next one, but all is good.

No time to waste, let’s get to ‘dem shots!

Various shots from trip to Texas in January 2025

For our first entry, the wheel has chosen a resident of Anahuac ….oops again, Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge. They have a LOT of these prehistoric creatures laying on their banks – this one was one of the larger ones we have seen there.

Hit the jump to see where the wheel takes us next!

Continue reading Spin the Wheel

As the Royal Terns

Greetings everyone! Been wrapped up in the chaos we call Christmas and have not had time to really sit down and relax in the warm glow of the computer monitors. Clearly the financial engine is booming in America as trips to the stores to pick up items to celebrate the now over-commercialized event meant spending three times as long in a checkout line than it took to actually find that perfect gift. Every store – same story. I do try to support the local independents – the problem is my time is becoming increasingly valuable to me. Quite revealing as the mainstream media and self-serving politicians tried their hardest to paint a false recession narrative just a few months back. In honor of this soaring economy, I bring you royalty (well, at least I’m pretty sure about that).

Royal Tern found on Galveston Island, TX in December 2017

I have not featured a lot of Terns here and not for lack of images. On the contrary, my photo queue is full to the brim with these sharp looking birds. They happen to be a family of birds that hang out at my favorite local wildlife refuge in Havana (Emiquon) as well as easy fodder on our multiple trips down the Texas Gulf Coast. If you have access to a fairly decent sized body of water, then you have a good chance of being able to witness these aerial acrobats in action. The difficulty is not getting them classified in the right family as their slim/aerodynamic profile and dagger sharp bills tend to quickly differentiate them from the abundance of Gulls sure to be in the same area. No, the difficulty comes into getting them categorized in the right species as there are at least eleven I can name off the top of my head that are available somewhere in North America. Granted not as hard as ID’ing one of the twenty or so Gull varieties, but they do have a similar issue in that their coloring doesn’t differ that much – especially out of the breeding season.

Royal Tern found on Galveston Island, TX in December 2017

Hit the jump to learn more about this sleek looking bird. Continue reading As the Royal Terns