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Taking My Tern

It’s a special treat today folks!  With a complete break from protocol, I’m bringing you the fruits of a bird outing from just a couple of weeks ago.  In relationship to my usual delays in getting my babies out of the camera and into these pages this is nearly light speed.  If we were in a jet there would be a HUGE boom about now.  There is a couple of reasons for this promptness.  One being that the images were already processed – literally the day I took them and the other just due to the excitement of getting this bird in the tin.

Black Tern Shot at Goose Lake on the Hebron Bike Trail

That my friends is a Black Tern.  Without question, this is a new addition to my Birding Life List and I owe my brother for having the chance to get it.  We had recently signed up for the Illinois Birders Exchanging Thoughts (IBET) Yahoo group.  I am not technically sure if Ron saw all the posts that were occurring regarding the Black Tern sightings and decided to head down there or if he went there on his own first and then saw all the posts.  Regardless, he went over to the Hebron IL. bike path and checked out the scene.  Sure enough, there were Black Terns hanging out in a distant pond/lake.  It really looked a bit like a marshy area but apparently it is referred to as Goose Lake by all the birders in the area.  Note, there is absolutely no signage anywhere near this area that actually refers to it as “Goose Lake”.

Black Tern Shot at Goose Lake on the Hebron Bike Trail

Hit the jump to read a bit more about the Black Tern and see a couple more pictures.

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