Black Skimmer

Hunter58 · Jan 27, 2015

These birds have some funky looking beaks. I still not been able to capture one Skimming but I hope to one day.

A big yawn

Unless you see the beak straight on you really don't notice just how thin it is.

sm4him · Jan 27, 2015

Beautiful shots, Hunter! The Black Skimmer is one of my favorites.

It's funny; the very first shot I *ever* got of one was of it skimming; it's not a great shot, because it was before sunrise one morning. This was a couple of years ago, in, I think, St. Simon's. I had NO idea Black Skimmers existed before that.

This year, during my trip to Florida, I saw way more of them than I'd seen at St. Simon, but like you said, I rarely ever caught them skimming.

I did get a very similar shot to your last one (though not as good), and was quite surprised to learn how thin those bills really are. They look so big and clunky from the side!