Skimmer Sunday

I snuck in a trip to America at the weekend, with a day and a half on Long Island in NY State. The primary target was Black Skimmer, a bird I got a brief glimpse of in Florida on my last visit. I am very fond of it, they're brilliant, and this time the species was on view for as long as wanted it. However the weather played havoc with my carefully laid plans and what should have been glorious early morning sunshine was in fact squally overcast grey skies and a stiff breeze. I did my best - with a broken hand - and given the circumstances I can't honestly say I'm unhappy with the results. Surely one of these days me and some decent weather are going to coincide? This is of course one of the risks of going on exceedingly short trips; on balance I'm still happy to take it. So, here are a few photos of the Skimmers, sorry, images. I managed 2280 despite the cruddy weather, and am still in the process of editing them down. There are many more to come....