Black Skimmers

Black Skimmers are large, black and white waterbirds with short red legs, red and black bills with the top being shorter and have long pointed wings.

Black Skimmer in a Fog over the Gulf of Mexico

By |2022-04-24T06:46:52-06:00December 24th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Whenever I view this photo of a lone Black Skimmer in flight on a foggy Gulf shore I feel a wave of joy and peaceful feelings wash over me.

Courting Black Skimmers on North Beach, Fort De Soto

By |2022-04-24T06:59:10-06:00November 29th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

On a hazy, windy day in May of 2008 I was able to sand crawl on my belly close enough to some Black Skimmers to watch and photograph them courting.

Black Skimmer Skimming the Gulf

By |2022-04-24T05:06:40-06:00April 29th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

My own technique for photographing this Black Skimmer skimming the Gulf and other skimmers that day was to sit down in the water right where the waves crested and moved on shore.

Scoop Of Black Skimmers Flying Past Shell Key

By |2022-04-24T06:56:02-06:00October 26th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I haven't seen Black Skimmers in over six years now but in my mind I can still hear them calling when I look at my images of a group of them in flight.

Welcome September…

By |2023-10-12T05:41:45-06:00September 1st, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Beaverhead County, Birds, Black Skimmers, Box Elder County, Cliff Lake, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Madison County, Montana, Pinellas County, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The first day of September signals to me that cooler weather is arriving so I took a look back at some of the images I have taken in September from 2008 on.

Use of Decoys for Colonial-nesting Seabirds and the Need for Protected Nesting Areas

By |2022-03-10T21:15:22-07:00July 2nd, 2015|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge, Egmont Key State Park, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Gandy Beach, Least Terns, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

On an extremely hot April day I was out on Egmont Key for a Florida Master Naturalist class and from a distance I thought I saw some Black Skimmers and Least Terns resting on a beach but they turned out to be decoys.

A morning spent at Fort De Soto six years ago today

By |2020-11-06T05:54:28-07:00September 4th, 2014|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Piping Plovers, Sandwich Terns, Semipalmated Plovers, Wood Storks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Six years ago this morning I was photographing birds at Fort De Soto County Park and I wanted to share a few images and memories of that day.

Sunrise Skimmers with sandstone texture

By |2016-12-07T12:09:09-07:00August 13th, 2014|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Both versions of this frame of the sunrise Black Skimmers bring back memories from the morning I created this photo of them in their pre-dawn flight.

Black Skimmers – Highly gregarious and unmistakable

By |2016-12-07T12:09:19-07:00July 18th, 2014|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Black Skimmers are beautiful and unmistakable, with their long orange/red black tipped bill, white underparts, blackish upper parts and distinctive barking call.

Black Skimmers at Fort De Soto Five Years Ago Today

By |2022-04-24T07:04:49-06:00April 26th, 2014|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It is really cruddy here in Utah this morning so I thought I would go back in time to a warmer, sunnier day via the magic of some Black Skimmer images I created five years ago today.

Bird images from warmer and sunnier days

By |2020-04-18T14:33:06-06:00January 31st, 2013|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Brown Pelicans, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Snowy Egrets, White Ibises|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I love winter, I love seeing snow on the mountains and feeling the crispness in the air but I am getting tired of gray cloudy days and heavy fog so I thought I would post a few images from warmer and sunnier days that I took while I lived in Florida.

4 Years ago today when Hurricane Ike stirred things up at Fort De Soto

By |2020-01-25T05:56:45-07:00September 12th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Laughing Gulls, Pinellas County, Reddish Egrets, Ring-billed Gulls, Willets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Four years ago today Hurricane Ike was out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico and the waves that it generated made a strong splash at Fort De Soto County Park.

Resting Black Skimmer juvenile – My banner image

By |2016-12-07T12:13:03-07:00September 11th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Wildlife Ethics & Etiquette|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Several people have remarked on how much they like the resting Black Skimmer juvenile image that was in my rotating banner at the top of this blog so I thought I would post it to show the whole bird.

Odd Black Skimmer Behavior

By |2023-01-25T06:02:25-07:00June 13th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

The Black Skimmer had a Mangrove seed pod in its bill and it was twirling the seed pod with its bill, at times the seed pod even went over the top of the bill but unfortunately I didn't get any images of that.

Black Skimmer adult in flight

By |2022-04-24T05:03:48-06:00October 12th, 2011|Categories: Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

I could always tell when a flock of Black Skimmers were flying in to Fort De Soto's north beach when I was photographing there because I could usually hear their soft, nasal barking yips or yeps before I saw them.

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Friday Photos – Getting the Whole Picture

By |2021-01-06T05:43:18-07:00August 26th, 2011|Categories: Black Skimmers, Brown Pelicans, Fort De Soto County Park, Gulls, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I often forget that by backing up my zoom, swapping my long lens for a wide angle lens or backing up physically I can get the "whole picture".

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