{"id":12919,"date":"2020-01-31T06:45:46","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T11:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?p=12919"},"modified":"2020-01-31T06:45:46","modified_gmt":"2020-01-31T11:45:46","slug":"black-skimmer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psnp.info\/p4td_\/?p=12919","title":{"rendered":"Black Skimmer!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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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.<\/p>\n

And here is the poem.<\/p>\n

Day Poem<\/p>\n

1\/31<\/p>\n

Black Skimmers cut the water<\/p>\n

the way the lady at the fabric<\/p>\n

store cuts cloth…not scissoring<\/p>\n

at all, but holding the blades<\/p>\n

stationary and sliding, parting<\/p>\n

the cloth effortlessly, easily,<\/p>\n

as though it were an act of will<\/p>\n

instead of muscle…of course water<\/p>\n

(unlike cloth) is self healing and<\/p>\n

no sooner has the Skimmers bill<\/p>\n

parted the waters than the seam<\/p>\n

seals, leaving hardly a ripple<\/p>\n

behind the bird. I love to watch<\/p>\n

them, and to try to catch them<\/p>\n

in the act with my camera. Such<\/p>\n

grace, such skill, more an act<\/p>\n

of will than it is an act of muscle.<\/p>\n

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