Black Skimmer | Phil Lanoue Photography

Black Skimmer

This morning in the marsh pond we had a black skimmer show up and make a couple of passes through the water before heading back toward the ocean. You can see a pair of egrets in the background in the first photo. In the last photo, the water under the bird is bubbling up and almost looks like it’s boiling. Actually, it’s all the fish swimming and jumping in a panic when they see the skimmer flying over them!

43 thoughts on “Black Skimmer”

Björn Törngren on July 20, 2013 at 3:06 pm said:

The first photo… You totally nailed it sir!

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- Phil Lanoue on July 20, 2013 at 3:22 pm said:
  
  Thanks very much I appreciate that! Normally I like to get photos of skimmers, skimming. But as the breeze increased the water didn’t look as good so I went with some regular flights.
  
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  - Björn Törngren on July 20, 2013 at 3:40 pm said:
    
    I got lucky last month when a seagull turned and went straight at me. It was during the eveningsun and the angle was spot on! http://bjorntorngren.com/2013/06/24/midsommarkvallens-fangst/
    
    A few photos down…
    
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    - Phil Lanoue on July 20, 2013 at 3:55 pm said:
      
      That looks very good and a terrific series there overall!
      
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      - Björn Törngren on July 20, 2013 at 4:29 pm said:
        
        Well I had to zoom in a lot and with a 55-250mm 1:4-5,6 I didn’t really captured the deer. But what an experience!
        
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Steve Gingold on July 20, 2013 at 3:11 pm said:

Yep, that first one is good, Phil. Well captured banking between the pair of egrets(?).

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- Phil Lanoue on July 20, 2013 at 3:25 pm said:
  
  Thanks a lot Steve, glad you like that first shot, it was actually the first shot I took this morning of the skimmer as soon as it showed up. Didn’t realize I had it until later. And yes those are egret sin the background and the small blue blob is an adult little blue heron.
  
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Sue on July 20, 2013 at 3:23 pm said:

I never realized what very long wings these birds have! Love that first photo.

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- Phil Lanoue on July 20, 2013 at 3:26 pm said:
  
  Yes they sure do have some good size wings and they are also very fast flyers.
  Glad you liked these skimmer pics,
  
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Judy on July 20, 2013 at 5:07 pm said:

Number 1 does it for me too! Love it!

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- Phil Lanoue on July 20, 2013 at 5:25 pm said:
  
  Thanks Judy, glad you liked #1 which is beginning to look like our clear favorite! 🙂
  
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janmasyn on July 20, 2013 at 5:13 pm said:

Wow Phil, awesome photo’s, the first one is super.

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- Phil Lanoue on July 20, 2013 at 5:26 pm said:
  
  Another vote for #1, thanks Jan.
  
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gaiagreber on July 20, 2013 at 5:17 pm said:

The first photo was just amazing, love your pictures!

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- Phil Lanoue on July 20, 2013 at 5:26 pm said:
  
  That first photo is pulling into the lead! 🙂 Thanks very much for checking these out!
  
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  - gaiagreber on July 20, 2013 at 5:50 pm said:
    
    Love seeing your pictures, so much inspiration! So thank you for that! 🙂
    
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    - Phil Lanoue on July 20, 2013 at 5:51 pm said:
      
      I greatly appreciate your very kind comments!
      
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      - gaiagreber on July 22, 2013 at 7:26 am said:
        
        Well, I appreciate your very nice pictures :))
        
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lylekrahn on July 20, 2013 at 5:26 pm said:

Panic would be right. That’s hilarious. How deep into the water do they go to get fish?

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- Phil Lanoue on July 20, 2013 at 5:44 pm said:
  
  It is pretty funny to see. Well, for me anyway, probably not too funny for the fish.
  The skimmers only go as deep as the lower portion of their bill will extend into the water.
  Don’t know if you ever saw all these here:
  https://phillanoue.com/skimmer-photos/
  
  Oh, also saw a spoonie this morning!
  
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Charlie@Seattle Trekker on July 20, 2013 at 6:34 pm said:

Wonderful to have a Black Skimmer in the house…

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- Phil Lanoue on July 21, 2013 at 2:33 pm said:
  
  Yeah I always love seeing these guys! Thanks
  
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foxleylady on July 20, 2013 at 7:24 pm said:

What great pics, Phil! They are such fascinating birds – I love the detail in the last one!

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- Phil Lanoue on July 21, 2013 at 2:33 pm said:
  
  Thank you so much Maggie, I appreciate your kind comments!
  
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Molly Argo on July 20, 2013 at 8:07 pm said:

Fantastic photos. I especially like #1!

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- Phil Lanoue on July 21, 2013 at 2:34 pm said:
  
  Thanks much Molly and looks like #1 is our winner.
  
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Garden Walk Garden Talk on July 20, 2013 at 8:09 pm said:

The Black Skimmer really is a pretty bird. I never saw one before that I am aware. They really live far south of us. Beautiful images of it Phil. The orange beak is quite a beacon.

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- Phil Lanoue on July 21, 2013 at 2:34 pm said:
  
  They are very attractive birds and wonderful to see them in action, and yes that orange sure stands out!
  
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Andrew on July 20, 2013 at 10:15 pm said:

What a great bird. I so love the first photo especially.

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- Phil Lanoue on July 21, 2013 at 2:35 pm said:
  
  Thank you Andrew, and looks like another vote for #1
  
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Gunta on July 21, 2013 at 12:15 am said:

I think I’ll go for #1, too. Seeing them in action (and the fish panic) is great, but seeing that wing span is very impressive as well.

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- Phil Lanoue on July 21, 2013 at 2:37 pm said:
  
  Hey thanks Gunta, and yes #1 does show the wing span of this fine looking bird.
  
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Rexlin Victor on July 21, 2013 at 3:10 am said:

Great shots!!!! First and third one shots are awesome!!!

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- Phil Lanoue on July 21, 2013 at 2:37 pm said:
  
  I really appreciate you checking these out, thanks!
  
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lynn on July 21, 2013 at 6:48 am said:

Thank you so much Mr. Lanoue,
Now that I am back home after visiting Huntington Beach SP, I can relieve it the joys of the park
with your pictures!! lynn

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- Phil Lanoue on July 21, 2013 at 2:38 pm said:
  
  Thanks very much for looking and commenting Lynn and I’m glad you enjoy the photos!
  
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Shakti Ghosal on July 21, 2013 at 9:27 am said:

What an exquisite set of photographs of the black skimmer! Why is it called that I wonder?

Shakti

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- Phil Lanoue on July 21, 2013 at 2:40 pm said:
  
  I’m happy you liked these photos!
  These birds fish by ‘skimming’ along the water placing just the long, lower portion of their bill into the water in hopes of plucking out a fish as they fly or ‘skim’.
  See many examples of their fishing technique in my gallery here:
  https://phillanoue.com/skimmer-photos/
  
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pixelspielerei on July 22, 2013 at 6:38 am said:

In that case I would also jump in panic! 😛 Nice pictures! ▲

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- Phil Lanoue on July 22, 2013 at 11:38 am said:
  
  Oh I would too! Thanks, glad you enjoyed these photos!
  
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Deb W. Trotter on July 22, 2013 at 2:11 pm said:

Wow! Very cool photos!!

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- Phil Lanoue on July 23, 2013 at 11:06 am said:
  
  Thanks so much Deb!
  
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Fergiemoto on July 27, 2013 at 6:18 pm said:

Oh WOW! Cool shots of the skimmer fishing!

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