In the first four photos you can see the molting process of the Black Skimmers from their nonbreeding plumage, where the nape is white or gray, to the breeding plumage, where the nape is completely black and connects the black crown to the black back. The skimmers in the first two photos have white napes; in the third photo the nape is mostly black with a narrow white band. The top right skimmer in the fourth photo has a completly black nape.
The Black Skimmers were crowded onto several sandbars in San Carlos Bay near Bunche Beach. There were terns and gulls mixed in with them. One of these sandbars is shown in the ninth and last photo. Several times during our observation of these birds something spooked them (we couldn't determine what) and they all flew into the air. Eventually they settled back onto the sandbars. These flying Black Skimmers are shown in photos five to eight.
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