Black Skimmer!
I published a Day Poem this morning, based on this experience. I love watching Black Skimmers at work…and I certainly enjoy trying to catch them in action. I have my “birds in flight and action modifications” to Program mode programed into the focus hold button on the Sony’s lens, right under my thumb, so all I have to do is press the button to shift modes when I see a BIF opportunity. The Sony Rx10iv’s tracking auto focus makes Skimmers easier than ever before…but it is still a challenge. This Black Skimmer was working the ponds off the short Gator Creek loop at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge near Titusville, Florida, USA. Sony Rx10iv as above, 600mm equivalent. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos and assembled in FrameMagic.
And here is the poem.
Day Poem
1/31
Black Skimmers cut the water
the way the lady at the fabric
store cuts cloth…not scissoring
at all, but holding the blades
stationary and sliding, parting
the cloth effortlessly, easily,
as though it were an act of will
instead of muscle…of course water
(unlike cloth) is self healing and
no sooner has the Skimmers bill
parted the waters than the seam
seals, leaving hardly a ripple
behind the bird. I love to watch
them, and to try to catch them
in the act with my camera. Such
grace, such skill, more an act
of will than it is an act of muscle.