Some people take for granted the little things of life. I love to run bicycle outdoors because it gives me a chance to appreciate nature. I always carry my camera everywhere I go, specially on outdoor activities. Here is a typical Florida afternoon in October. My husband and I went for a ride. Other people … Read more Making an Event of Anything
For those of us that live in the city or in a fast pace town, sometimes is hard to believe that in other parts of the world, simplicity is the norm. Visiting some places in Lantau Island in Hong Kong was for me like stopping the clock and see the world with different eyes. First … Read more Around Lantau Island Fishing Village Tai O
Some people take for granted the little things of life. I love to run bicycle outdoors because it gives me a chance to appreciate nature. I always carry my camera everywhere I go, specially on outdoor activities. Here is a typical Florida afternoon in October. My husband and I went for a ride. Other people are walking or biking too. There are boats on the lake moving around , some families are having a afternoon picnic at the gazebos. Parents are with their kids at the playground, and here I am stopping every few minutes to take pictures. Here are some of them.
I sat comfortably in my beach chair with sunglasses on, ready for my “nothing to do day”. We were close to the shore line where the soft waves sooth the ambience noise.
Two peculiar bird flew by close to the water and shore line. They caught my attention, but I was there for beach business so I continue to relax. Few minutes later they were there again, two of them, one in front of the other. The birds were flying so low, almost touching the water. The duo passed by over and over again, they lifted their flight a little and continued flying until they disappear from my sight. I never seen that kind of bird before. Their strange orange and black beak woke up my relax mode to alert mode. I notice that when they got close to the water, they skim the water with their lower beak.During the day I try numerous time to capture them in flight with my camera. I wanted to see the bird in details. To be honest, most of my afternoon went by trying over and over to get pictures.
Scanning my pictures for details, I couldn’t find the birds eyes. I looked, I zoom, and there were no eyes! I thought to myself:
“Maybe they don’t have eyes? No! Impossible!”
At that moment, I wanted to take more pictures to find the eyes of my flying friends. A little prayer asking them to stop flying won’t be a bad idea.. I wanted to meet the black and white feather creature in person, a close encounter.
For my surprise my prayer request got answered. I was sitting on my beach chair again, looking diligently everywhere. Then, I hear my husband calling,
“Xamara, hurry come here now! Hurry!”
I ran toward him and there it was, my friend stopped by to model for me.
Can you see the eyes?
Fun Facts
about black skimmers
There are only three species of skimmers: black, Indian, and African skimmer
The black skimmer is the largest of the three species
They can be found in the coastal areas of North, Central and South America
The lower mandible is longer than the upper one
Is the only bird in America that have the unusual feeding habit of skimming the water to capture small fish, and small crustaceans
Their young ones have the same length on both mandibles
