Champion of Migration

We began our hike in an extremely remote area, heading up into the mountains. It was cloudy, but the weather was mostly pleasant. As we trekked into the higher elevations, it got colder, windier, and began to pour rain. We eventually arrived at a beautiful alpine lake, as dramatic storm clouds swirled in the sky above. We approached the lake shore, and were greeted by this Arctic Tern. Few birds are more at home in this harsh environment than the Arctic Tern, a species that can migrate 90,000 kilometres (56,000 miles) every year despite weighing about the same as an iPhone. This world traveler nests as far north as the high Arctic, and spends the non-breeding season as far south as Antarctica. In its lifetime, an Arctic Tern will migrate about 2.4 million kilometers, equivalent to traveling the circumference of the Earth 60 times, or traveling to the moon and back over 3 times. As we approached the lake, the Tern flew over to investigate our presence in its territory, and I captured this image as it flew directly overhead in front of one of the most dramatic skies I’ve ever witnessed.