Saturday, July 23, 2011

Visit to the skimmer colony


"Where's my fish?!!!!!"


"I'll be flying soon."


"Mom, don't leave me."


Am I a juvenile common tern or forester's tern?


"I always sqwuak when I have a fish." said the sandwich tern.


"Storm's coming. We're outta here."

The Sunday after the 4th was a gloomy one. After spending a good bit of the weekend indoors doing chores I had to get out. I just decided to risk the rain. I jumped off the couch, grabbed my stuff and headed across town to check on the skimmer babies. I had been trying to get back there for over a week after work but every night it would rain. How depressing. It didn't rain while I was there but it was dark and gloomy. The skimmer babies were growing up. There were only a few tiny ones there. Most of them were almost as big as the parent but still in their creme and brown colors. They were so cute running around. One kept running way outside the roped off area and I kept trying to herd him back to the ropes. On a sad note, I did see 2 dead ones inside the roped off area. Not sure what happened. Where they abandoned and not fed? Where they sick when they were born?  I'm going to try and head back there a few more times to catch them growing up. Stay tuned.

9 comments:

  1. the young ones are so cute and geeky! but that last shot is just beautiful! love all their wing positions!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice! I love the third pic....the little guy with his foot in mid-air. Very cute.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The tern photos are lovely, Dina, but I'm here for the baby skimmers! You got some priceless pictures of them. Your baby-bird photos make me laugh and also bring a tear to my eye, sentimental old thing that I am.
    Keep 'em coming. I hope you have some in reserve for times when it isn't baby-bird season in Florida.

    —Kay, Alberta, Canada

    ReplyDelete
  4. I loves these photos! We are headed to Anna Maria next week and I understand that the young terns will still be there. I sure am hoping so! I so want to capture lots of pics!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Just wanted to let you know the Audubon is investigating the dead babies, in case there is a local toxin problem. -Lenka

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love these Dina; and that first shot is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Stunning close ups of the greedy youngsters Dina.

    I'm reasonably confident that #4 is a Common Tern.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Since the tail is longer than the wingtips, I'm confident it's a Forster's Tern.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love the baby Skimmer captures!

    ReplyDelete