Skimmer Splashing

First day of our three day IPT ("instructional photo tour") of Nickerson Beach Park on Long Island, east of NYC. There are a dozen of us, led by top bird photographer Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito.

Black Skimmers (Rynchops niger) breed in abundance on the beach, and they were what tempted me to sign up--especially the chance to photograph fledglings and juveniles (I've otherwise had them mainly in the winter in Florida, when they're obviously not breeding). However, the seasons have been late this spring and summer in most respects, and the skimmers now have only reached the point of sitting on eggs-so we aren't likely to experience young ones. Common terns are everywhere, and they are at all stages of reproduction--stay tuned for the next two days.

At midday Artie saw bunches of skimmers and terns drinking and bathing in a large pool of rain runoff near the parking lot--this was the best of the nearly 300 shots I tried. The skimmers were not feeding (when they literally skim along the water barely touching it with their long, narrow beaks); rather, they were dipping rapidly down to drink, with one or two very brief dips--very hard acts to catch with our cameras. They often splashed quite a lot--as here--far more than they do when elegantly skimming.