RTruesdell

As the Black Skimmers fledge, they begin to practice their skimming along the shoreline. They will still be dependent on their parents until they learn to feed themselves.

It's the night of the Strawberry Moon and the Black Skimmer eggs have been hatching for 21 days (3 weeks) and we have a lot of babies. The oldest fledglings are showing signs of a growing tail and should be able to fly soon. There are adults still mating, scrapes with eggs, and a few downy chicks. However, I am worried about the Gulls damage they are doing to the overall chick population.

If you watch the nesting Black Skimmer for a while, it becomes obvious that after humans, Gulls are the biggest threat to increasing the number of Black Skimmers. Gulls are attracted to the food and garbage people leave on the beaches. Even worse, people like to feed the Gulls. When they cannot find easy access to people's food, they look to the next abundant sources. During nesting season, this just happens to be the local colony of Black Skimmers that return to this area every year. Not only will they steal fish that the adults bring to feed their young, but the Gulls will also prey on the eggs and chicks. Gulls are relentless and seem to have no fear. In the video a Gull keeps coming back to finish off an egg it has already destroyed. If you visit the beach, please don't feed the Gulls, and be mindful of your garbage.

Three American Oystercatchers landed on the shoreline just after sunset.

Gulls are the worst when it comes to stealing food from others.

A Black Skimmer Fledgling is being fed just after sunset.

When I first started checking on 6Q’s scrape, he and his mate had 1 chick and 3 eggs. Then he was down to just one small chick, and I shot some good video of the cute little guy two days ago. Yesterday, Wednesday, when I checked on his scrape it was empty. I looked around and found a scrape close by that had a small chick in it, so I focused one of my cameras on it and let it record. It turned out that it was 6Q’s mate and chick in that scrape. But then she left. The chick was left alone for almost 9 minutes and 8K wanted the chick out of the scrape. Finally, 6Q returned to feed the chick and moved to another scrape. A short time later, Mom returned with another fish for the chick. Did 6Q’s mate and chick move to 8K’s scrape?

It's that time at the colony when the Black Skimmer fledglings take their first flight. Unfortunately, they wait until dark when it is hard to capture. Now they have to build strength to be able to fly with their parents to learn how to feed themselves, which could take another three to four weeks.

Black Skimmer, banded 6Q, has a very cute chick.

Young Black Skimmers have a feeding frenzy as an adult brings in a fish.

A Laughing Gull tries to steal a fish from an adult Black Skimmer. The Black Skimmer hangs on and then feeds it to its chick.

An adult Black Skimmer and its cute chick, backlit at the approach of sunset.

The older Black Skimmers chicks are now called fledglings and soon will be ready to fly.

It has been 2 weeks since the chicks have started hatching on Redington Shore. Even on this rainy day, a lot is happening at the colony.

This video is very graphic and displays a behavior that is sometimes seen during nesting season. Usually, this happens because a chick gets into the wrong scrape. I didn't see the beginning of this encounter, but it happened in front of the colony and not in the nesting area.

It's a windy day at the Black Skimmer colony.

Male Black Skimmer, banded 6Q, and his mate team up to feed their very young chick. 6Q was banded in Indian Shores 2021.

A pair of American Oystercatchers land near the Black Skimmer colony. After looking around for a little while, one of the Oystercatchers enters the colony and attacks one of the chicks. The adult Black Skimmers respond and chase the Oystercatchers away.

An adult Black Skimmer brings a fish to its baby chick and that was the easy part.

It's feeding time and a young baby Black Skimmer tries to hide in the wrong nest.

A Black Skimmer with the band 9K brings a fish to feed one of its babies.

Knowing that its chick has just recently hatched, Dad brings it a very small fish.

Just over 2 weeks old, a Black Skimmer chick is practicing their unique skimming technique.

Life can be tough for a little Black Skimmer, but sometimes we can find a little levity.

A trip to Myakka River State Park is never complete without spending time with the alligators. In this video, they are returning to the pond from Lake Myakka in the late afternoon.