Tuckered out

I had one of those days today ---way too many cool things, way too many photos, way too hard to choose just one. However, this is a shot I've been really hoping to get ... this is a Black Skimmer, a bird that I find utterly fascinating. They live year-round in the coastal areas of Florida, and Cornell has this to say about them:

The remarkable bill of the Black Skimmer sets it apart from all other American birds. The large red and black bill is knife-thin and the lower mandible is longer than the upper. The bird drags the lower bill through the water as it flies along, hoping to catch small fish.

I was lucky enough come across a huge flock of several hundred of them today at J. Howard Beach today and spent a couple of hours crouched on the sand, watching and photographing. This bird is sleeping - but rather than tucking his head under his wing like 95% of the other skimmers, he apparently decided it would be easier just to lay his big beak right on the sand. I've seen photos of this, but hadn't actually seen it "in person". So, imagine my delight to find two skimmers stretched out on the sand.

Lots of other birds today, too, including my first Piping Plover. I saw two of them and both were tagged and banded, so I'll be submitting photos and info to the bird banding org so that they can track them. Piping plovers are a threatened species so much research is being done in an attempt to understand how to prevent them from becoming extinct. Pretty thrilling to see them.

I've posted 8 other photos (from the 501 that I took - yikes) starting HERE with the little Piping Plover, all blinged out. A banner day.

Hubs is making loads of progress at the house, as well as catching up with friends. Still missing him very much - only 3 more sleeps...

Thanks for the lovely comments and stars on my warbler yesterday. It was fun challenging myself with the warbler yesterday.

Be well...

Debbi