When Tropical Storm Debby paid us a visit we were concerned about our Black Skimmers. We were pleasantly surprised to see the posting and birds withstood the strong winds and rain. The posts and strings were in surprisingly good shape with just a few needing repair.
The birds were in the posting in the dunes as expected which is the normal behavior during extreme weather and hurricanes. As you know, we still have young fluffy chicks. Fortunately, by the time this storm came into our area, the chicks were able to move with their parents behind the dunes and into the vegetation.
The Skimmers with the juveniles have now spread out on the beach outside the posting and they are a huge group! No wonder they were so stressed under the crowded conditions of the posting! Juveniles are improving their flight skills and we saw several working on “skimming” skills too as the water was nice and calm.
Some chicks are still small and growing their flight feathers. Other fledglings are becoming stronger fliers and watching the adult birds skimming…the behaviors are adorable!! Since the birds have spread out onto the beach, Beachgoers are very curious about the birds they are seeing and what happened with nesting this year.
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Photo by Kris Chadwick
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Photo by Kris Chadwick
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Photo by Kris Chadwick
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Photo by Kris Chadwick
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Photo by Kris Chadwick
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Photo by Kris Chadwick
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Photo by Kris Chadwick
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| Photo by Kris Chadwick |
