The wrong lens, wrong shutter speed, bad distance, not much right. However…

This Black Skimmer flew by fast, then made a complete U-turn. Immediately diving down to the waters surface he came back at us full speed. For a skimmer that’s pretty fast.

I shot this series just because it was such fun to see.

As fast as he came was how fast he changed his mind and banked back over Charleston bay. Very cool to watch!

For anyone unfamiliar with a skimmer they have a longer lower beak which allows them to skim over water, scoop up prey and then slam the upper bill closed.

Black Simmers usually are part of a larger flock, this one was alone.