I first saw a Black Skimmer in Virginia in 1993. Since I started competing in the World Series of Birding I pretty much count on an annual glimpse of this species in New Jersey. But for over a decade I have been chasing Black Skimmers in Massachusetts with no luck. I go where they are supposed to be. They breed, albeit in small numbers, somewhere near the “elbow” of Cape Cod every year. I make at least one annual shorebird pilgrimage to South Beach in Chatham. Relatively inaccessible and inhospitable to humans they are a hot spot for southward migrating shorebirds in late summer. Often I have read reports of skimmers at these places, sometimes even from the day before, or the day after. Or most disturbing of all, I have come home only to read a report that a skimmer was seen while I was there!
And so it was that I set out on the quest yet once again this year, only there was a serious wrinkle in the form of a Red-footed Falcon on Martha’s Vineyard. Considering that this bird had flown across the Atlantic from its normal range of Africa and Eastern Europe, and it was the first of its species to do so made this a must-see bird. Unable to resist, I took off in the wee hours for Wood’s Hole. I got there, got the first ferry to the island and the first taxi to Edgartown. Only a few steps from the van and someone was already calling out, “there he is!” Sure enough, sitting on a yellow sign was the bird …and it was only 7:35 AM. Since there had been a steady stream of skimmer reports from South Beach it looked like I would have my cake and eat it too!That is when I heard the devastating news that the boat to South Beach would soon be hauled out of the water in advance of tropical storm Charley. Not giving up that easily, I took the next taxi back to the ferry. The traffic was relentless, but I arrived at Morris Island in time to see some birders returning from South Beach. They had had their fill of skimmers, and had their sights set on a dessert of falcon. Later reports confirmed that they indeed had made the right decision.
Had I been a bit more patient I could have had skimmers in the morning and the falcon in the afternoon. But instead, there I stood, like Moses on Mount Pisgah, staring off at the Promised Land. But Moses didn’t have the luxury of a 20 to 40 power Kowa scope, so I decided that I would scan the island in hopes of picking up this bird. But two hours of scanning did not produce a single skimmer.
I wonder how Moses felt that day. Was it enough simply knowing about God’s blessing? Or was he bitter that he didn’t get to go there himself? I had had a wonderful day, but was still empty, and yes, even bitter. But in the end I realized that the struggle is filled with lessons and its own blessing. The happy ending is that by not seeing a skimmer on Saturday, I chose to go back on Tuesday and got up close and personal with 14 of them! So don’t be too quick to complain about God’s ways. Not only are they mysterious, but sometimes they hold unexpected blessings.
