We are officially envious of photographer Ron Shields, who took these hard-to-get photos of the Black Skimmer earlier this week (either Monday or Tuesday) during the evening from the Nature Trail just beyond the first gazebo at DeKorte Park.
Ron writes: "Two skimmers caught me by surprise and flew by me before I could react with my camera. Isn't that usually the case? Luckily, one bird made a return visit a few minutes later and I captured these images as it flew by me from left to right.
"I used a Canon 5D with a 400mm f5.6 lens handheld. Lighting was tough given the time of day and overcast sky."
Click "Continue reading…" to see more of Ron's Black Skimmer shots.