Black Skimmers at Dow Plant
Made my first trip to the Dow Chemical plant in Freeport, TX last weekend for their annual open house to see some of the 2000 Black Skimmers that are nesting in the middle of their plant. They have one of the largest nesting colonies along the gulf coast and they have done a great job of maintaining the nesting area in an old parking lot in the plant since the late 1960’s.
http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0503/kac0503-1.html
It’s not an ideal set up for bird photography but it was very cool to see that many Skimmers in one location and get a few photos. They apparently started nesting late this year with all of the rain in SE Texas so there were very few chicks to be seen.
Taken with Canon 1DX and Canon 500mm F4 IS II with 1.4X III teleconverter mounted on tripod with Wimberley II gimbal head
1/4000 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
1/2000 sec @ F9, ISO 800, evaluative metering
1/500 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 1/3 exposure compensation
1/640 sec @ F11, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +1 1/3 exposure compensation
1/8000 sec @ F8, ISO 1600, evaluative metering, +2/3 exposure compensation
Tim Timmis Photography 
Very interesting bird. I never realized how narrow their bill was until I got lucky with a straight-on shot. Really like that mother and chick shot. Thanks.
July 6, 2015 at 7:24 am
As is often the case, those little ones captured my attention.
July 6, 2015 at 9:39 am
Thanks Stephen. They are one of my favorite birds with how they catch fish with their beaks.
July 9, 2015 at 8:21 am
Just wish that there would have been more chicks to photograph. May have to back again next year to see more of them.
July 9, 2015 at 8:22 am