only assume there was no shortage of food here and I couldn’t
figure out why this osprey hadn’t yet made an attempt at
catching some. By now, twenty minutes had passed. Even my
own patience was waning, when all of a sudden something
changed. Something had caught the osprey’s eye. Everything
shifted, the pace quickened. The osprey began to dive with
lightning speed. With a splash, it made contact with the water.
I waited for the water to settle, for the bird to reveal its success
or lack thereof. And when it took off, I could see what it had
been waiting for all this time… a very large flounder.
This is strictly speculation, but it certainly appeared that
this osprey was holding out for the seafood dinner he/she
really wanted. It seems safe to say that this particular osprey
had a preference for flounder.
Where the Dunlin Forages
One afternoon I sat patiently on the side of a tidal pool on
Kiawah’s beach and observed several shorebirds foraging in
the wet sand and shallow water. The longer I observed these
birds, the more predictable their behaviors became. The
plovers were foraging about five feet from the surf, while the
sandpipers were probing close to and just beyond the water
line. In the deeper water, the taller birds were foraging.
The subject in this photo is a Dunlin. Dunlin are
medium-sized shorebirds —slightly larger than the nearby
sandpipers—equipped with long, slender, down-curved bills.
These birds were spending their time foraging in water that
was one to two inches deep. As my subject probed in and out
of the water, it dawned on me that the sand it was probing
was just a smidge too deep, just out of reach, for the nearby
sandpipers and way out of reach for the plovers. Sandpipers,
and especially plovers, boast short beaks, unable to match
the depth the dunlins can reach. So, this depth was just right
for the dunlin. My dunlin was foraging in an area that was
exclusive to its kind. As a result, it didn’t need to compete with
the other species of shorebirds that were likely all foraging for
very similar foods within its vicinity. This experience helped
me to realize that the sheer diversity of birds on Kiawah’s
beach is reliant upon their ability to coexist. It was amazing to
see how these subtle changes in bill length and bird height can
create an inclusive feeding environment for our shorebirds.
WINTER/SPRING 2019 • VOLUME 41
Skimmers and Sunsets
Gulls, terns, and skimmers are all members of the same
family, but have several different ways of obtaining food.
Terns are precision hunters. Flying above the water and diving
down head first to snag a fish they’ve targeted with their bill.
Gulls tend to be more opportunistic feeders. Sometimes they
will grab their own prey, but they also seem to enjoy stealing
fish from other birds. Even Cheetos from an unsuspecting
person will satisfy a gull.
Skimmers, however, are very specialized in their prey-
capture technique. They fly low to the edge of a shallow body
of water, adjusting their wing beats to seemingly glide just
inches off the surface. They then dip their elongated bottom
mandible into the water, thereby skimming the surface, as
their name suggests. Their bills are incredibly sensitive and as
soon as they feel a potential food item against their beak, they
swiftly snap it closed, trapping their prey.
As the sun begins to set on Kiawah’s beach, you’ll find
less activity from the terns and the gulls. Since these birds
are visual hunters, sunset means meal time has ended. But
skimmers, well, skimmers are tactile feeders. All they need
to see is the shoreline and the rest is simply felt. As I sat on
the beach that dusk, paying little attention to the sun setting
behind me, I felt enthralled by the black skimmers flying up
and down the shoreline. As they hunted for dinner, the colors
of the sunset reflected in the water all around them. It was a
truly magical Kiawah scene.
In the end, through all of the nature realizations, I’ve also
come to realize something else: Photography encourages one
to be patient and slow down. There is so much to learn and
see in this world but failing to sit and observe may prevent
one from appreciating and really understanding. For me, the
osprey fostered appreciation that individual animals may
have preferences, the dunlin taught the importance of small
differences in beak length, and the skimmers revealed that
some birds work later than others in the never-ending hunt
for that meal in a perfect setting. NK
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