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.