Black Skimmers Catching Fish

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black skimmer, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, photography, postaday

For the past five years I have watched and photographed Black Skimmers draw straight lines with their bills on the marsh water at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, always wondering if they ever catch anything. They must, since they still exist and are actually thriving. Here’s a shot of a bunch of them yesterday.

Black Skimmers.

Following is a closer look from a week ago.

Black Skimmers.

They skim the water anywhere there may be fish, even right next to other birds.

Black Skimmer cruising by a Snowy Egret.

The following series of shots shows one that finally got a fish on camera!

Black Skimmer.

Black Skimmer.

Black Skimmer.

Black Skimmer: “Caught one!”

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Black Skimmers

Tags

black skimmer, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, photography, postaday

A flock of Black Skimmers, those amazing birds that draw perfectly straight lines with their beaks on the water as they look for fish, was parked on a sand bar at the refuge. They were quite far away from me, and those that were fishing were flying fast.

Black Skimmers.

Two Black Skimmers.

Two Black Skimmers. The one in front must have just missed a fish.

Here’s a picture of one that I took last year.

Black Skimmer 2017.

Here’s one from 2015 where the straight line is seen clearly.

Black Skimmer in action

Bird Diversity

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black skimmer, peacock, photography, postaday, red-winged blackbird, snow goose, snowy egret

Going through some unpublished photos I took over the last few months, I am struck by the many different kinds of birds that live in our small part of New Jersey. Here’s how diversity looks among birds.

Juvenile Red-winged Blackbird.

Black Skimmer.

Snow Geese. They are not all white.

Peacock.

Snowy Egret.

Black Skimmers

Tags

black skimmer, edwin b forstythe national wildlife refuge, photography, postaday

Black Skimmer at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge

The Black Skimmer has a most unusual bill among birds, with the lower mandible longer than the upper one. It uses it to skim over water in search of small fish. When the lower mandible senses a prey, the upper one clamps down.

As it hunts for food, Black Skimmers leave amazingly perfect straight lines on the water surface as seen in the following photos. Two days ago, a pair of Black Skimmers put on an aerial show and spent several minutes flying back and forth in front of me. However, they did not seem to catch anything that I could see.

Black Skimmer ready to begin skimming

I heard the sound of fish jumping in the water, probably scared by the skimming action, but maybe they were too big for these birds to catch.

Black Skimmer

Black Skimmer

Black Skimmers and Laughing Seagulls