Bird Watching: My Birds, 1 by Methodical

Methodical wrote:
Ok it's been 10 days...wow time flies. Between family life, work and the new football season, I don't have enough time in the day. I need to clone me and send the clone to work so that I can do more birding.

well here's another set from my visit to Huntington Beach State Park - the Black Skimmer. Up till now, I had never seen one in person, but saw several pictures of them, so needless to say I was very pleased to been able to capture some photos of my own.

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: it's the the only bird species in the United States that has a larger lower mandible than upper mandible. The bird drags the lower bill through the water as it flies along, hoping to catch small fish.

1st photo shows the bird performing the act that represents it's name. It skims the water and when it feels a fish it closes it's mouth. But you will see later that it is not always successful in catching a fish.