Saturday, June 04, 2011

Black Skimmer with chicks

This photo was taken on June 1 within the Santa Rosa area of Gulf Islands National Seashore.  If you click to enlarge the photo, you may be able to see the tiny beak and eyes peering out from under mama Skimmer's wing (to your right).
Just three days later I captured photos of the same nest with the chicks venturing out.  The daddy Skimmer guards his family and warns other birds to stay clear.

Black Skimmer chicks almost look cartoonish when they start toddling around.  Their body looks a little out of proportion to their head.

But they are such beautiful, graceful birds as adults, especially when you observe them feeding along the water's edge.

2 comments:

BaysideLife said...

DJ these are wonderful photos.

Barrier Island Girl said...

Thanks, Claire. I have another patrol at Ft. Pickens in the morning, but hopefully tomorrow afternoon I'll post a video of the Skimmer chick (and mother). I just love these birds!

Also have another cute video of Least Terns chasing ghost crabs out of their territory. I'm assigning music to be video right now, but have to head to bed while it processes. Four-fifteen comes early!!

DJ