Black Skimmers

   In 2001 on Martha's Vineyard I saw a pair of black skimmers in flight by the shore. It was just a brief sighting and I have longed to see them again. Each yearly visit for the past 15 years I have looked for them with no luck ....until this year!
   I just returned from a 2.5 week trip and was handsomely rewarded. A section of beach on the south shore had more than a dozen of black skimmers. It was hard for me to contain my excitement. Several pairs were doing what looked like a mating dance in the air. My husband and I made several more trips to watch these magnificent birds.

   In addition to the nesting black skimmers were nesting common terns, least terns, oystercatchers and endangered piping plovers.

Black Skimmers

Piping Plover (endangered)