IT'S A CONSPIRACY!

Between football games, MacDaddy and I took a "get me outta here" drive to the beach. A weather change was imminent and the birds were standing in shallow water, facing the wind. Among the hundreds of sea gulls, sandpipers and plovers were some strange-looking birds...black-tipped wings, red beaks that tapered to black. I had never seen these birds before, so I "googled" them... 

(photo from web)

Black Skimmers are tern-like birds and the ONLY bird in the world whose lower mandible is longer than the upper. They are so named because of the way they feed...they fly just above the water's surface and skim the top with their lower beaks open "like a pair of scissors". They are the most interesting birds...with their sleek bodies, black tipped feathers and brilliantly red beaks and legs. 

And they just stood there watching me, as I walked within a few feet of them. I leaned that they often nest in this area of Florida, but that we're also on the migratory path.  The most fascinating thing I learned, though, is that a group of Black Skimmers are calls a "CONSPIRACY".  Pretty cool, huh?


I am linking with Outdoor Wednesday and Watery Wednesday.