All Types of Water Birds
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It's always a treat to see these showy dragonflies, especially when they're in as good shape as this one.
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My first dragonfly of the season! Fingers crossed that I'll find lots more of them!
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Unlike some other dragonfly species where males guard egg-laying females, Widow Skimmer males leave the female by herself, “widowing” her as she deposits her eggs just under the surface of the water.
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Widow skimmer dragonfly (Libellula luctuosa). From last summer a close up of this dragonfly with my zoom lens. In this spring, I have already seen many on the lake due to the warmer temperatures.
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Another one of those fantastic days at Nickerson Beach on Long Island. Hundreds and hundreds of Skimmers, Terns and looks like a lot more to come. They are hatching later this year. Well worth the drive and the tour of New York, Waze took us. (directions) But, we really didn't hit traffic.
Black-tailed Skimmer - Orthetrum Cancellatum
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The remarkable bill of the Black Skimmer sets it apart from all other American birds. The large red and black bill is knife-thin and the lower mandible is longer than the upper.
The Black Skimmer has one of the most unusual foraging styles of any North American bird. A feeding skimmer flies low over the water with its bill open and its lower mandible slicing the surface. When the mandible touches a fish, the upper bill snaps down instantly to catch it.
Nikon 300/2.8 +TC 1.4 (420mm) 1/2000/f5.0, ISO 720
Black-tailed Skimmer - Orthetrum Cancellatum
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A female Flame Skimmer coming in to land on one of the stalks of our Red Hot Pokers! She used the stalk as a perch to fly off and catch insects.
The remarkable bill of the Black Skimmer sets it apart from all other American birds.
The large red and black bill is knife-thin and the lower mandible is longer than the upper. The bird drags the lower bill through the water as it flies along, hoping to catch small fish
A Black Skimmer, having out maneuvered another, calls out, seeming to jeer at the other's loss.
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The only American representative of the skimmer family, the Black Skimmer has a jet black back and cap, white underparts, long pointed wings, and short red legs. The long, thick, red and black beak of the Black Skimmer makes it unique among North American birds; it is the only bird with a lower mandible that is longer than its upper mandible. The Black Skimmer's vertical pupils are also distinctive. Their catlike pupils protect their retinas from the glare of sun-drenched beaches and reflective ocean water.
Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary and Rollover Pass are good places in Texas to look for Black Skimmers. [text credit: Houston Audubon]
Black skimmer Lake Lucas Doral, Florida, USA.
No post-processing done to photo, only cropped. Nikon NEF (RAW) files available. NPP Straight Photography at noPhotoShopping.com
Nikon - 300/2.8 + TC 1.7 (500mm) - 1/2000 @ f6.3 ISO 2500
The remarkable bill of the Black Skimmer sets it apart from all other American birds. The large red and black bill is knife-thin and the lower mandible is longer than the upper. The Black Skimmer has one of the most unusual foraging styles of any North American bird. A feeding skimmer flies low over the water with its bill open and its lower mandible slicing the surface. When the mandible touches a fish, the upper bill snaps down instantly to catch it.
Skimmers are highly social birds, nesting in colonies and forming large flocks outside the breeding season. Large, successful colonies usually occupy the same site from year to year.
The Black Skimmer is the only American representative of the skimmer family. The other two, rather similar, species are the African Skimmer and the Indian Skimmer. All use the same unusual feeding method.
Although the Black Skimmer is active throughout the day, it is most active at dawn and dusk. Its use of touch to catch fish lets it be successful in low light or darkness.
At hatching, the two mandibles of a young Black Skimmer are equal in length, but by fledging at four weeks, the lower mandible is already nearly 1 cm longer than the upper.
The oldest recorded Black Skimmer was at least 23 years, 1 month old, when it was recorded in California.