Late Evening Skim

Yesterday evening, just before we left for the night a black skimmer showed up and made a couple of passes in the salt marsh.

I saw him snap his head back and I knew he nabbed a fish. The skimmer flew across the marsh reeds heading off for the night happily munching down his fish along the way!

14 thoughts on “Late Evening Skim”

Charlie@Seattle Trekker on September 10, 2014 at 11:44 am said:

Great fishing technique…

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on September 10, 2014 at 11:51 am said:
  
  These guys fly fast and fish fast. I’m surprised they don’t have a lot of wrecks. Plus the oyster beds are just below the surface of the water, that would hurt that large lower bill segment for sure.
  
  Reply ↓
Lee Wilkerson on September 10, 2014 at 12:42 pm said:

Great shots of a hard to photograph bird, including that black eye. Thanks Phil!

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on September 10, 2014 at 1:07 pm said:
  
  Thanks Lee, that is a very tough bird to photograph and a struggle for me to try to keep detail in the white and see something (anything) in that black face. The conditions were awful last night too with a cloudy grey sky so I got no help from the lighting. Anyway, I tried to get something out of it. 🙂
  
  Reply ↓
Lyle Krahn on September 10, 2014 at 3:30 pm said:

I can only imagine how many wrecks I would rack up if I was a skimmer. You sure got a lot out of your opportunity.

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on September 10, 2014 at 8:45 pm said:
  
  This fishing technique sure looks dangerous to me but the skimmers seem to know what they are doing.
  They just don’t take my photos into consideration by showing up at a bad time.
  
  Reply ↓
The Lite Rider on September 10, 2014 at 3:58 pm said:

Amazing you could shoot him bending his head back like that. The fact he could even do that is also amazing. What a great fisherman he is. He’s got good coloring, too. Love the way the water looks.

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on September 10, 2014 at 8:48 pm said:
  
  These birds are super fast and it all happens so quickly I’m never sure I even got proper photos until later.
  They are fun to photograph but challenging.
  
  Reply ↓
Cowboys and Crossbones on September 10, 2014 at 5:19 pm said:

I wish I could skim like a skimmer. Impressive orange beak – I’m surprised fish can’t see that from miles under the water!

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on September 10, 2014 at 8:52 pm said:
  
  Good point about that bright orange beak, you would think the fish would see that quick. But I guess all it takes is one fish not paying attention.
  
  Reply ↓
Rolling Harbour on September 11, 2014 at 4:17 pm said:

Love these birds. We do get them on Abaco but I have never seen one. Your sequence is exactly what I want to watch in real life! RH

Reply ↓
sallywoodphotography on September 13, 2014 at 7:22 pm said:

Excellent sequence.!!

Reply ↓
Scott Marshall on September 14, 2014 at 1:16 pm said:

unbelievable action

Reply ↓
anotherday2paradise on September 16, 2014 at 5:55 am said:

Very neat fishing skills exhibited here, Phil. Wonderful shots again. 🙂

Reply ↓