Scouting for Black Skimmer Colonies
July 23, 2021 - I drove up Florida's West Coast to scout for Black Skimmer colonies. Pelicans and terns entertained me after I found the nesting birds
Black Skimmer Colonies
 | Description | Black Skimmers nest along beaches of Florida in the summertime. If you are lucky enough to find a colony with young babies, you’ll be in for lots of “awe”-inspiring moments! |
| Photography Advice | Most people prefer intermediate telephotos with these birds. I always bring my Beast also for close-ups. Your best bet is to lie down on the sand. That gets you eye-level with the birds for better shots. It’s less scary to the birds if you pick a spot and stay in it for a while. It’s hard to keep sand out of your gear. Plan ahead and bring a towel or something for your camera to sit on when you’re not using it. Bring a paintbrush to remove sand when you leave. Black Skimmers are listed as a Threatened Species by the State of Florida. It is illegal to bother the birds or touch the babies. Please be respectful of our feathered friends! |
| When to Go | June and July |
| Species Photographed (13) | American Oystercatcher, Black Skimmer, Black-Bellied Plover, Black-Crowned Night-Heron, Brown Pelican, Double-Crested Cormorant, Laughing Gull, Least Tern, Ring-Billed Gull, Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, White Ibis, Willet |
| Website | None |
| eBird | None |
| Google Map | None |
| Trail Map | None |
Black Skimmer Chick Learns to Swallow a Fish
July 27, 2019 - Amusing images of a cute Black Skimmer chick swallowing a fish. It took dancing and several collapses on the sand before the fish went down
Black Skimmer Babies!
July 21, 2019 - Special evening photographing Black Skimmer babies at a nesting colony. Cute blond fuzzballs begging for food and running around the beach!
Summer Morning Walk on the Beach
July 18, 2019 - Summer beach birds and photography...incoming Brown Pelicans, calling American Oystercatchers, and a gull flaunting his prize crab shell!
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: Least Tern Family
July 12, 2019 - Beautiful Least Tern family with tiny chicks and one remaining egg. The smallest chick was still wet from the egg. Dad was on feeding duty!
Eureka Again: Another Evening at the Least Tern Colony
July 6, 2019 - Evening of photography at a Least Tern colony, where tiny chicks were fed, older chicks learned to fly, and parents warded off ghost crabs
Rich’s Eureka Moment: Baby Least Terns!!
June 27, 2019 - Rich found a small colony of Least Terns with day-old chicks. Such cute photos in gorgeous evening golden light!
First Black Skimmer Babies
June 24, 2019 - The first Black Skimmer babies of the summer have hatched on Florida's Gulf Coast. Little yellow fuzzballs were fed fish by Mom and Dad!
Checking out another Black Skimmer Colony
June 18, 2019 - As my dad and I left Fort De Soto on his birthday outing, we stopped at a nearby Black Skimmer colony to check on the progress of the colony. The birds had staked their claim to a part of the beach, in the middle of a fairly busy section. The area was roped off, meaning […]
Sandwich Tern Gives Fish to Wrong Mate!
May 31, 2019 - Beach photography as Sandwich Terns perform courtship rituals with fish and accidentally hand a fish to the wrong mate!
It’s Skimmer Time Again!
May 10, 2019 - Afternoon photography at a Black Skimmer colony, where courtship and nesting are definitely underway! Lots of good action photography
More from the Black Skimmer Colony
July 19, 2015 - Late afternoon is the best time at the Black Skimmer colony. The setting sun bathes the chicks in beautiful golden light as they eat fish
Father’s Day at the Black Skimmer Colony
July 6, 2015 - Another Father's Day at the Black Skimmer Colony, where the nesting is running early this year and the babies were already two weeks old
Other Birds at the Black Skimmer Colony
June 2, 2015 - There were more than Black Skimmers to photograph at the Black Skimmer Colony. Cormorants and terns and a surprise oystercatcher...
Black Skimmer Colony Ramping Up
May 31, 2015 - This year's first Black Skimmer colony visit yielded lots of skimming opportunities and plenty of piggy-back rides! Babies are on the way!!
Food Fight! Silly Laughing Gulls
August 10, 2014 - On my last trip to the beach, a pair of ladies made friends with a flock of Laughing Gulls, who staged some great mid-air food fights!
Juvenile Black Skimmers in Flight
July 31, 2014 - The juvenile Black Skimmers grow up so quickly! Already they are flying and skimming like their parents.
Juvenile Black Skimmers Meet the Water
July 25, 2014 - I returned to Indian Rocks hoping to see the juvenile Black Skimmers head to the water and maybe fly. The surprise was the newborn chicks!
Week-Old Black Skimmers are Still Cute!
July 19, 2014 - The week-old Black Skimmers are no longer wet from the egg, but they are still pretty cute! My favorite shot was a big baby yawn...
What a Mouthful!
July 14, 2014 - Tonight’s is going to be a short post, as I am putting the final details on my photography presentation that I will give this Friday as guest speaker at the Trout Lake Nature Center. I’m really looking forward to sharing some fun images with some great people. While I’ve been approached several times through my […]
More Cute Baby Black Skimmers
July 7, 2014 - I returned to the beach for a second evening with the cute baby Black Skimmers, tiny clowns who are such a joy to photograph!
Black Skimmer Hatchlings (Cuteness Alert!)
July 4, 2014 - A visit to the beach with Black Skimmer hatchlings always yields cute photographic moments! Adorable shots from my favorite summer location
Tug of War – Black Skimmer Chicks
June 27, 2014 - Recently hatched Black Skimmer chicks are always fun to photograph, especially when they play tug-of-war over a needlefish!
Double-Crested Cormorant Still Looking Spiffy!
June 23, 2014 - A Double-crested Cormorant surprised me this weekend. Still in breeding plumage, his bright blue eye and mouth are awesome!
Juvenile Shorebirds from Last Summer
February 13, 2014 - I found some images from last summer that I had never processed. In August I spent several mornings at Indian Rocks Beach photographing the nesting Black Skimmers, but the skimmers weren’t the only birds who posed for me. The juvenile shorebirds also put on a show for the camera. I especially liked the juvenile terns, […]
Teenage Skimmers Learning to Skim!
August 19, 2013 - This weekend I returned to the Black Skimmer colony at Indian Rocks Beach. It’s been five weeks now since the babies hatched, and three weeks since I photographed them as adorable two-week-olds. I figured they were flying and learning to skim by now, so I headed over in the morning when the sun best illuminates […]
More From Indian Rocks Beach
August 15, 2013 - I hope you’re not tired of reading about the Black Skimmers yet, because today’s post brings you more from Indian Rocks Beach! One of my goals for this summer was to capture the interaction between skimmers in mid-air during the nesting season. I like to call these interactions “skimmer skirmishes,” when two adults take to […]
Two-Week Old Black Skimmers
August 13, 2013 - Several weeks ago, I returned to the Black Skimmer colony at Indian Rocks Beach to photograph the two-week old Black Skimmers. The little guys had grown up quite a bit since I photographed them as newborns. Some would say that the two-week old Black Skimmers are less cute than when they were tiny babies, but […]
Learning to Fly
August 11, 2013 - I returned to the Black Skimmer colony two weeks ago to check on the babies. It had been two weeks since I was there to photograph the day-old chicks, and I knew the babies had grown a lot. I was hoping to catch them in that big-kid-but-not-yet-teenager stage, and I succeeded! I’ll have more pictures […]
Black Skimmer Chick Fillets!
August 4, 2013 - The weekend after I returned from Maine, my dad and I drove to Indian Rocks Beach to check on the Black Skimmer colony. We found that most of the eggs laid after Tropical Storm Andrea had hatched, and the colony was full of tiny newborn Black Skimmer chicks. They are so cute!! My friend Debbie […]
Skimming, Scratching, and Shadows at the Black Skimmer Colony
July 31, 2013 - Cuteness alert! The Black Skimmer colony at Indian Rocks Beach was doing very well in the week before I left for Maine. The birds were again on eggs after Tropical Storm Andrea wiped out most of their colony. These birds are more stubborn than bad weather. A few surviving chicks from the first batch stumbled […]
Victorious Babies at the Black Skimmer Colony
June 22, 2013 - One of my favorite summertime photo opportunities is at a Black Skimmer colony in Indian Rocks Beach. The skimmers come to nest on the beach in front of some condos, and it’s very easy to photograph them with their babies. This year I went over to the colony with my dad for Father’s Day. He […]
Bittersweet Skimmer Colony Memories
July 2, 2012 - For a year I've been looking forward to the hatching of a new crop of Black Skimmers at a colony located on the West Coast of Florida. Approximately 500 adults return to the same patch of beach to make their nests and raise their chicks. Closely supervised by the Audubon bird stewards, these birds co-exist […]
“Mobile Home” Gets Recognition
August 3, 2011 - My image “Mobile Home” was honored on Flickr in the Florida Outdoors July photo contest for “Cutest Baby Bird.” Thanks to Jamie for judging (and for selecting my shot!) Now I get to choose the topic and judge the August contest. The Internet certainly is cool for connecting with people and sharing photography.
Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary
July 26, 2011 - The Black Skimmer colony that I posted about yesterday is at the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, a non-profit bird hospital. I enjoyed walking around and seeing the birds that are under treatment there. They have so many pelicans! Black-Crowned Night Herons hung around all over, offering nice photo ops. When you walk out to the beach, […]
You’ve Come a Long Way, Babies!
July 25, 2011 - I stopped at Indian Rocks Beach to visit the Black Skimmer colony yesterday after my morning at Fort De Soto. It was 10:15 by the time I got there, so the light was already pretty harsh, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to see the little chicks all grown up. As a reminder, here’s what […]
A Fish Tale: Day 2 at the Black Skimmer Colony
June 24, 2011 - Seeing is believing…and yet who can believe that such tiny Black Skimmer chicks can swallow fish almost as big as they are? :) I went back to the Black Skimmer colony this morning. After the incredible sunset last night, I knew not to expect great light angles on the colony this morning. So I was […]
Black Skimmer Colony: Day 1
June 23, 2011 - I love my off-Fridays! Rich and I took advantage of our three-day weekend to drive out to Indian Shores, where there is a nesting colony of Black Skimmers. The colony is located near the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, a really neat non-profit bird hospital. The sanctuary rehabilitates birds and releases them back into the wild. We […]