Indian River Terns at Nagarjunasagar

A good part of the two hour boat ride in Nagarjunasagar was spent mostly watching birds and there was only type- the Indian river tern. What really attracted humans to this bird was their airborne antics. The simple looking tern is an amazing flyer, very graceful movements. Even in strong breeze, terns fly with ease, always in control. Here are few pictures I shot with my Canon, basic telephoto lens. The terns occasionally flew close to the boat, that's when we got these shots. The camera was in continuous shoot mode.. just keep the button pressed and follow the tern. Since it was after sunset, pictures were dull and I had to balance the colors. Of all pictures here, I rated this best.

Quoting a para from the River Tern article in Wikipedia:  The Indian river tern or just river tern (Sterna aurantia) is a tern in the family Laridae. It is a resident breeder along inland rivers from Iran east into the Indian Subcontinent and further to Myanmar to Thailand, where it is uncommon. Unlike most Sterna terns, it is almost exclusively found on freshwater, rarely venturing even to tidal creeks.

This tern has swept its wings backward to the maximum extent, ready for the next downward swing.

Wings swept down halfway. In this view, it looks like a seaplane.

Here its changing direction, its turning left and also moving higher.

Flying parallel to the surface and eyeing for fishes below.

This one is slightly pointed downward, about to dive. A good breeze was blowing hence the wavy surface.

This was shot in the morning, hardly any breeze, water was calm, gentle waves and at some places it was almost mirror like. This is the time fishes jump out.. actually we could see hundreds of small fishes jumping as though they are inviting the terns.. come catch us. Yeah, the terns do catch them in flight.. breakfast served in a platter.

This cuboid boulder caught my attention. It sits there peacefully on Nagarjunakonda shore, close to the docking point. The boulder is a record keeper.. you can see how high water had risen. The white marks are left when water stayed that level several months. The other interesting aspect is the white marks on the top.. bird droppings, in fact its tern dropping. That's a favorite rest point for these lovely birds. The two birds in air are probably crows, there's a large flock on Nagarjunakonda.. caw caw caw!

Nagarjunakonda has an interesting terrain, its quite wild with thorny shrubs, cacti, small and medium sized trees. There was evidence of wild boar's presence. Besides, boars, this terrain is home for hare, porcupine, wildcat, snakes and other small animals.
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