South Georgia - Falklands Expedition Report - Part 2 - Antarctic Terns

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Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens
1/2500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 160

On Nov. 24, we went ashore at Grytviken, an abandoned whaling station on South Georgia Island. We visited the museum, explored the abandoned whaling station and drank a toast to Ernest Shackleton at his burial site in the small graveyard. Shackleton is the British explorer who lost his ship, the Endurance, to Antarctic pack ice in 1915. Alfred Lansing's Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage is the best true adventure story I have ever read.

Several Antarctic Terns were actively feeding along the shore where our Zodiacs landed and I spent a chunk of my time here trying to capture their hovering and plunge-diving behavior.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens
1/2500 sec at f/4.5, ISO 200

The Antarctic tern is a medium sized bird with white plumage, greyish wingtips, a black cap, and red bill and legs. The tern, about 12-15 inches long, ranges throughout the southern oceans and breeds on several subantarctic islands. It feeds primarily on small fish but also consumes a variety of other things including crustaceans and insects.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens
1/2500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400

During the breeding season, Antarctic Terns forage in inter-tidal and inshore waters near the breeding sites. It spends more time at sea during winter. In calm waters, the Antarctic Tern performs plunge-diving after hovering 6 - 30 feet above the water. The remainder of the images show some of my attempts to capture this behavior.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens
1/2500 sec at f/4.5, ISO 160

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens
1/2500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 160

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens
1/1600 sec at f/6.3, ISO 250

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens
1/1600 sec at f/6.3, ISO 250

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens
1/2500 sec at f/4.5, ISO 320

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens
1/3200 sec at f/4.5, ISO 500

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro Lens
1/3200 sec at f/4.5, ISO 500

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David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.