Africa Wild

Thanks for the comments Puff Addy, Nan, Lis, Mel, Alf & RP.

Lis - you might change your mind when you see one in flight. They are very graceful.

Mel - I do get a bit excitable when I see something I've always wanted to catch up with.

RP - They are related to terns, with some claims that they are closely related to the noddies. More research is required to confirm this.

Hey Dewi,

Had lots to catch up on! Very interesting reading about the wild dogs' tails....the doggies in Kruger have very clean tails.

Stunning pics of the ellies from the boat and awesome skimmer sightings!

Thanks Flutt's. Glad you god your modem fixed.

More ellies to come later.

The skimmers continued to entertain us for quite some time.

The birds would fly out over the river, then return to the sandbank to rest.



Some were roosting. Their beaks tucked under their scapulars.



Their flight is elegant & buoyant, their long wings making them very graceful as they flew by.



Some were getting ready for their nocturnal fishing flights.



After spending the day roosting on the sandbars, they were getting their flight feathers spruced up for night ahead.







Before setting out over the river in the fading light.

Such beautiful pics.

It is a very elegant bird in flight, but you cannot call it pretty standing on the ground with it's short legs and especially in a frontal pic with the black cap covering the eyes and the bill looking like a long red thorn Nothing personal, mind you

I'm with Dewi on this one: I love their colourful beaks going with the black and white plummage - very fashionable.

Awesome photos!!!

Magnificent shots of the African skimmers, Dewi WoW

Also love the ellies in the water

But why is the lower beak so much longer

It's explained in the first post https://www.africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.php?p=334764#p334764