Cooper River Spuddle
Cooper River Spuddle - Post
Wise Owl Release
As soon as we had settled Beez Neez it
was off on my promised spuddle on Baby Beez up the Cooper
River. Smashing to be off on her - it's been a while - in fact it seems
ages
Bath time ready for
supper
Some headed home
for an early night while others continued to scruff about
We watched a mate
of ours take off and a couple chatting
We saw nothing
exceptional, nor did we expect to until............
A black skimmer appeared, our first up close and personal. The black skimmer, Rynchops niger, is a tern-like seabird, one of three very similar birds species in the skimmer family. It breeds in North and South America. Northern populations winter in the warmer waters of the Caribbean and the tropical and subtropical Pacific coasts, but the South American races make only shorter movements in response to annual floods which extend their feeding areas in the river shallows.
The Black Skimmer breeds in loose groups on sandbanks and sandy beaches in the Americas, the three to seven heavily dark-blotched buff or bluish eggs being incubated by both the male and female. The chicks leave the nest as soon as they hatch and lie inconspicuously in the nest depression or "scrape" where they are shaded from high temperatures by the parents. They may dig their own depressions in the sand at times. Parents feed the young almost exclusively during the day with almost no feeding occurring at night, due to the entire population of adults sometimes departing the colony to forage. Although the mandibles are of equal length at hatching, they rapidly become unequal during fledging.
The Black Skimmer is 40–50 cm long with a 107–127 cm wingspan.
The males weigh about 325 g, as compared to the smaller female’s 235 g. The
basal half of the bill is red, the rest mainly black, and the lower mandible is
much-elongated. The eye has a dark brown iris and catlike
vertical pupil, unique for a bird. The legs are red. The call is a barking kak-kak-kak. Adults in breeding plumage have a black crown, nape and upper body. The
forehead and underparts are white. The upper wings are black with white on the
rear edge, and the tail and rump are dark grey with white edges. The underwing
colour varies from white to dusky grey depending on
region. Non-breeding adults have paler and browner upperparts, and a white nape collar. Immature birds have brown upperparts with white feather tips and fringes. The underparts and forehead are white, and the underwings as the adult.
Skimmers have a light graceful flight, with steady beats of their long wings. They feed usually in large flocks, flying low over the water surface with the lower mandible skimming the water (in order of importance) for small fish, insects, crustaceans and molluscs caught by touch by day or especially at night. They spend much time loafing gregariously on sandbars in the rivers, coasts and lagoons they frequent. After three fly pasts, she was off.
The natural beauty and tranquility here is very special Everyone going home to bed, as did we. Bear did ring the Wise Owl, all is well and he is having an early night. Perfect
ALL IN ALL A DAY OF HIGH EXCITEMENT AND EVENTS I'M KNACKERED |