Tern in Krabi, SW Thailand, Oct 12, 2022 (1 Viewer)

[bhutjoe]

Hi, I am taking a chance of testing the patience of those here with another set of photos that I am putting forward for the worst photos on birdforum this year, but here they are. I am curious about the range of options for what they could be, so I can study in advance of my next trip there and hopefully ID them, and maybe even get some decent photos. These were taken on a speedboat (hence the blurry images) about half way between Koh Lanta/Krabi and Koh Phi Phi islands, fairly open waters far from shore. I strongly suspect that these are not identifiable to the species level but my thoughts were common tern for those in flight, mainly based on the shading of wings of two of the birds and tail shape of the very white bird. Perhaps black-naped could be possible though? They were diving for fish and there were about 20 or so fishing.
The birds on the water are perhaps a cotillion of crested terns, given the wing colours. Lesser is more common than greater according to ebird, for this time of year.
Thank you in advance for your patience at not hitting the"next" button immediately. All comments greatly appreciated.
steve

 

[Andy Adcock]

As far as the birds go, I can tell you a nice place to stay on Koh Lanta................

 

[Butty]

Trying to think of any terns I could exclude...
Nice try, but really I don't think you could gain anything from any answer that you couldn't guess at just by looking at a local species list. Sorry.

 

[Andy Adcock]

I'd venture that birds in the first image are Crested Terns.

 

[bhutjoe]

Thanks Andy, and thank you for your offer of naming a place to stay in Koh Lanta, that would be much appreciated by me as we try to get there a couple of times a year. I will just have to make sure i can safely id lesser and greater crested terns and others of course.
thanks again
steve

 

[bhutjoe]

Thanks Butty, it really was a stretch And there are not really that many different terns that have been id'd in eBird as being seen in Koh Lanta. Thanks again.
steve