I love watching Black Skimmers doing what their name implies. Their flying skills are extraordinary, including not needing to watch where they are going when they plunge their heads into the water.
Very agile, a slight tip of the wings is all they need to change direction or speed.
I didn’t see a fish, but sometimes they pull up just a bit to swallow something they’ve caught before continuing to skim the water.
Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, SC, July 15, 2018.
Great Blue Heron waits
Black Skimmer glides by slowly
Intersection now
Doing their own thing to get breakfast, a Black Skimmer and a flock of Roseate Spoonbills ignored each other.
I was focused on the Skimmer and didn’t expect him to pass that close to the Spoonbills.
The Skimmer made a second pass, probably realizing that the concentrated efforts of the other birds meant that they were on to something.
The Spoonbills continued sifting the water, not at all disturbed by the Skimmer.
Open wide…
Got it!
A bird this size needs to catch an awful lot of little tiny fish like that to keep fed.
This Black Skimmer gave me a good show with the early morning sun highlighting his black and orange beak, in contrast to last week’s pair that I photographed in poor light.
I had a great view and was able to track his path as he crossed the pond with his lower jaw in the water.
He finally lifted, before making a big turn for another pass.
Click on any image for a closer view.
Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, SC, 7/1/2018.
These Black Skimmers chose to do their skimming in the pond between me and the sun, rather than the prettier marsh on the other side of the dike where the light was beautiful.
The light here doesn’t do justice to their gorgeous orange beaks, but you can see how elegantly Skimmers fly and hunt. When in pairs the almost always fly with their wing beats synchronized.
Swooping around a small island the pair pulled tight together before turning for another long run.
Then they disappeared down an inlet, not to return while I was in the area.
Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, SC, 6/27/2018.
I got another opportunity to photograph Black Skimmers last week when a small group along with some Terns visited the same sand bar where I saw them two weeks ago. This Royal Tern had a few things to say.
When I first spotted them there were some Pelicans in the mix but they didn’t hang around. The tide was nearly out and this group of smaller birds seemed content to let the water lap around their legs. I didn’t see any of them feeding.
After the tide turned they shifted as a group a few times, going into the air, doing a few loops and settling just a couple dozen feet from where they started. It was only when a couple of bicyclists and a family with a baby carriage came along that they left.
Click on any photo for a larger view.
Black Skimmers by the hundreds flew down the beach and landed on a sand bar exposed by the low tide.
There were so many birds it was hard to chose where to photograph.
As the tide covered their original landing place they lifted off in groups and circled around to another appealing spot.
We had the good fortune to watch this for over an hour until we were driven out by the incoming tide.
A huge flock of Black Skimmers came in to the edge of the beach at low tide. These few had separated from the group and appeared to want to rest but just couldn’t leave each other alone.
“Akkk, I’ve been goosed!”
Indignant, he moved off without looking back.
You can see the Skimmers’ unique bill clearly in this photo: the lower mandible is longer than the upper. They feed by skimming over the water dragging the lower bill in the water picking up fish.
Click on any photo for larger view.
