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Royal Tern, Morro Strand State Beach, Morro Bay, CA tern-royal-10-9-06_0295enight Royal Tern, Morro Strand State Beach, Morro Bay, CA tern-royal-10-9-06_0295enight
Royal Tern, Morro Strand State Beach, Morro Bay, CA tern-royal-10-9-06_0295enight

Royal Tern, Morro Strand State Beach, Morro Bay, CA . *Note: The ID on this bird has been changed several times from Royal Tern to Elegant Tern, and back to Royal - and remains disputed by some. Technical: Canon 5D, EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens w/ EF 1.4X II Extender, 1/1600 shutter priority, f/8.0, ISO 640, on monopod. This image has been somewhat enhanced in Photoshop - the most dramatic "manipulation" is the use of a gradient fill to darken the "sky"... I took this shot late in the day (~5PM), standing in the water at a very low tide... the bird was over the water but between me and the beach (you can see its wing touching the water), and the background was in fact not the sky, but of the sky and vegetation reflecting on golden wet sand, which reduced the contrast of the subject I was looking for. see stealthispicture.com/images/tern-elegant/ Mike Baird bairdphotos.com This image is used as the main photo at Wikipedia, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sterna_elegans_flying.jpg and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elegant_tern Sorry for the back-and-forth about the ID on this bird (Elegant, Royal) - see comments below. 02feb2008 local birding expert Maggie Smith says "I would say that's a Royal Tern. I'm judging by size, shape and color of bill and the narrow black band on the head:." Thanks Maggie!