{"id":47399,"date":"2017-06-21T05:11:47","date_gmt":"2017-06-21T11:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=47399"},"modified":"2025-09-19T06:54:46","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T11:54:46","slug":"gulf-shore-black-skimmer-skimming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/06\/21\/gulf-shore-black-skimmer-skimming\/","title":{"rendered":"Gulf Shore Black Skimmer Skimming"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GulfGulf shore Black Skimmer foraging – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/750, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Well today is the first full day of summer and here out west the temps have been sizzling. We were over 100 here in Salt Lake City yesterday but further south temps were more extreme.<\/p>\n

There are three big fires burning in Utah including one up near Promontory Point that has burned over 2100 acres.<\/p>\n

The fire season here worries me because of the wet spring that produced lush growth that has now turned tinder dry.<\/p>\n

So this morning I wanted to post something that looked refreshing, that had water and a bird in it. It will be a scorcher here today and I felt like I needed that visually.<\/p>\n

Then I thought of this photo. Black Skimmers forage by skimming their bills in the waves just off shore and snap up fish when their sensitive bills locate them.<\/p>\n

It was a late June morning when I photographed this Black Skimmer skimming in a sea fog as I sat in the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n

It was refreshing and the waves felt marvelous as they washed over my legs.<\/p>\n

Ahhhh.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Black Skimmer photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Black Skimmers forage by skimming their bills in the waves just off shore and snap up fish when their sensitive bills locate them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,253,25,704,2000],"tags":[4004,3990,5229,5132,4136,5531,4077,4211,12848,4891,4697,5117,4248,2315,4119],"class_list":["post-47399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-black-skimmers","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-black-skimmer","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-foraging","tag-gulf","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-rynchops-niger","tag-seabirds","tag-shore","tag-skimmer","tag-skimmers","tag-skimming","tag-summer-3","tag-waves"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-skimmer-skimming-mia-mcpherson-4387.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ckv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39045,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/04\/29\/black-skimmer-skimming-the-gulf\/","url_meta":{"origin":47399,"position":0},"title":"Black Skimmer Skimming the Gulf","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"My own technique for photographing this Black Skimmer skimming the Gulf and other skimmers that day was to sit down in the water right where the waves crested and moved on shore.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black Skimmer skimming the Gulf, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-skimmer-adult-skimming-mia-mcpherson-1996.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-skimmer-adult-skimming-mia-mcpherson-1996.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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adult on beach at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/black-skimmer-mia-mcpherson-adult-8056.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/black-skimmer-mia-mcpherson-adult-8056.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/black-skimmer-mia-mcpherson-adult-8056.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/black-skimmer-mia-mcpherson-adult-8056.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101757,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/24\/black-skimmer-photo-from-13-years-ago\/","url_meta":{"origin":47399,"position":2},"title":"Black Skimmer Photo From 13 Years Ago","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It was thirteen years ago today when I took this photo of an adult Black Skimmer flying over the Gulf of Mexico in Pinellas County, Florida.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Black Skimmer flying over the Gulf of Mexico, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/black-skimmer-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-7825.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/black-skimmer-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-7825.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/black-skimmer-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-7825.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-skimmer-fog-mia-mcpherson-4304.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-skimmer-fog-mia-mcpherson-4304.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-skimmer-fog-mia-mcpherson-4304.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-skimmer-fog-mia-mcpherson-4304.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31166,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/10\/26\/a-scoop-of-black-skimmers-flying-past-shell-key\/","url_meta":{"origin":47399,"position":4},"title":"Scoop Of Black Skimmers Flying Past Shell Key","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I haven't seen Black Skimmers in over six years now but in my mind I can still hear them calling when I look at my images of a group of them in flight.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Scoop of Black Skimmers flying past Shell Key, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-skimmer-flock-mia-mcpherson-7755.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-skimmer-flock-mia-mcpherson-7755.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/black-skimmer-flock-mia-mcpherson-7755.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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