Nesting Black Skimmers

Parent screaming for me to get off their beach. It's sitting on eggs.

Landing.

Looking for a good fishing spot.

Sitting on eggs.

Taking a bath.

A small part of the nesting colony. The skimmers laying flat on the ground are probably sitting on eggs.

It's skimmer time! There's a small flock of skimmers that nest on the beach, just outside of the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary. When I took these pictures, a couple of weekends ago, there were no babies yet. As of last week there are babies everywhere so I'll be posting baby pictures soon. For the last 3 late springs, I've been heading out to the Redington Shores/Indian Shores beach. Around 300 skimmers come here to nest. The sanctuary ropes off the nesting area since it's right in the middle of a busy beach.  These birds are pretty aggressive since they have to fend off mean gulls and other prey who want to eat their young. If you stand close to the rope, the skimmers will fly towards your head. Most photographers will stay back and sit or lay on the sand to get the best pictures. It's pretty amazing to see all of these unusual birds living so close together.