Plymouth Long Beach, Black Skimmer, and Laughing Gull

Today was another beautiful morning at Plymouth Long Beach that was organized by Mike Milica.  At dark zero 500, we left by water taxi from Plymouth harbor out to the tip of Plymouth Long Beach.  The sky was clear and the bright, almost full moon was  getting ready to set over Plymouth.

Moon Setting over Plymouth

As we walked out to go on to the East side of the beach, the air was filled with gulls calling.  Waiting for the sun to come up over the horizon and illuminate the beach, we did see some semipalmated sandpipers and a black skimmer on the beach with the gulls.  Sunrise created some beautiful Golden light for us to do some photography.

photographing the sunrise

The main subject that was interest to everybody was the family of black skimmers, which consisted of two adults and two chicks.

skimmer flying by a photographer

Male and female black skimmers

Black skimmer chicks

Black skimmer with chicks

After I had taken numerous pictures of these skimmers, I noticed a little further down the beach to my right a young laughing gull calling in approach and an adult warning to get fed.  I moved down to watch the antics of this immature gull.  The adult laughing gull for a while appeared to be ignoring the little one and it seemed that it's only activity was chasing other laughing gulls away.  Finally, it apparently took pity on its young one and fed it.  Laughing Gulls feed their chicks by regurgitating up food that they are a already eaten in the chick will then eat the regurgitated food.  After the young one ate, it still kept on begging for more food.

Juvenile laughing gull begging for food

Adult Laughing Gull regurgitating food

Both laughing gulls eating the regurgitated food

Juvenile laughing gull begging for more food

Finishing off the morning as we slowly made our way back to the pickup area, there were a number of different varieties of shorebirds present to photograph.

Arriving back at Plymouth harbor, the whole area was booming with visitors compared when we first arrived and we were almost the only people at the harbor.

So ended another beautiful morning photographing the birds on Plymouth Long Beach


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