An update on the skimmers from a week or so ago.  The chicks are getting bolder and wandering outside the confines of the nesting area.

The black skimmers are nesting, far down the beach past the Don CeSar, even further down than they nested last year.  The nests are simply little hollows in the sand.  If you get too close one or two skimmers will swoop and "bark" at you until you move away.

It doesn't look like the chicks have hatched yet, but last year I got a picture:

It is unfortunate that the 4th of July cooincides with the hatching of chicks because the fireworks startles the parents away from the nest; the chicks get confused and wander off, and some get trodden on.

Skimmers are comical-looking, with their over-sized orange beaks and long ungainly looking bodies on stumpy legs; but airborne they are fascinating and beautifully graceful, gliding low over the water, beaks open, hoping to snag a fish...

Note: The next day there were chicks--maybe they were there all along but hidden in the nests.