Wednesday, June 29, 2011

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.

9 comments:

  1. wow! they're like killdeers - they don't believe in making a real nest i guess! the "V" photo is fantastic!!!

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  2. Awesome series on the Black Skimmers. The birds can get upset if you go near their nest. The Black Skimmers are cool looking birds, great sighting.

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  3. I Love to watch these birds never seen them nesting so this is very exciting to see..cant wait to see the babes!

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  4. Wow! Great shots, Dina. I'm looking forward to the offspring.

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  5. Fabulous photo series on the Black Skimmers! Great captures Dina!

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  6. Très belle série de ces oiseaux magnifiques que nous n'avons pas ici !

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  7. It is amazing to see these birds nesting so close to the houses. What happens when the sunbathers come out for a dip???

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  8. Wow!!!! You have blown me away with these incredible captures!!!

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  9. This is so cool! I'm just so enamored with these birds. Really awesome shots of them!

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