It's seldom that you can cross the small bridge to Assateague where this photo was taken without spotting several terns eyeing the water from the bridge- side.
Terns feed on small fish which they catch with a sudden, arrow-like plunge.
Sometimes they will even swim a few feet under water to catch their prey. The common tern, one of about 50 species of terns worldwide, grows to 16 inches and has a redish-orange bill with a black tip. They breed once a year, nest in colonies, and the female lays about three buff-tinted eggs in her nest set in a depression on the ground near the water. The eggs hatch in about three to four weeks.