Sanderlings on jetty rocks at the Fort Pierce Inlet.

A little further west along the inlet, we found Black Skimmers resting on a narrow white beach along with some Laughing Gulls and Ruddy Turnstones.

A distinctive-looking bird with short legs and a long bill. It’s hard to see their eyes, positioned as they are in the black-feathered part of their heads.

A long-winged bird with stark black-and-white plumage, the Black Skimmer has a unique grace as it forages in flight. Skimmers feed by opening the bill and dropping the long, narrow lower mandible into the water, skimming along until they feel a fish. Then they relax the neck, quickly closing their jaws and whipping the fish out of the water. Because they feed by essentially by touch, they can even forage at night. The world’s three species of skimmers are the only birds on earth that feed in this manner.