The Black Skimmer chicks at Santa Rosa are getting bigger and exploring the area around their nest. When I videotaped them yesterday morning, Mom and Dad Skimmer where 'changing shifts'.  One of them needed a break from those cheep-cheep-cheeping youngsters and walked away!  You see the other parent, complete with bed-head, heading toward the nest for their turn after the first one walks away.  The chicks aren't sure which one they want to follow.

Yesterday was the last day I'm scheduled to sub on a Santa Rosa patrol until July, so these little chicks may have fledged and gone when I return.

Ft. Pickens is my regular patrol area. Each section, Ft. Pickens and Santa Rosa, is special in its own way. Santa Rosa has many more Black Skimmer colonies. Ft. Pickens has more Osprey and Great Blue Herons, plus the old fort. I also enjoy watching the charter and fishing boats heading into the Gulf of Mexico through Pensacola Pass when I patrol Ft. Pickens, but no matter where I'm at, it's a beautiful day at the beach!

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.