Post #164 - Photographing nesting skimmers, terns, and oystercatchers at Nickerson Beach, Long Island

While visiting my family outside Philadelphia earlier this month, I snuck away for a few days of photography on Long Island. The renowned Nickerson Beach (eBird hotspot) in Nassau County is three hours from Philly (and just an hour from Central Manhattan) and heathy numbers of nesting American Oystercatchers, Common Terns, and Black Skimmers guarantee the spot heavily photographed between May and August. Chicks of those species are the main attraction, and the near constant presence of people renders Nickerson's nesters very approachable. I'd seen many memorable frames from Nickerson over the years, so I was stoked to have my first crack at this spot during my recent East Coast swing.

I'll hold the Nickerson logistics and strategies until later and offer 11 photos to show what's possible at this fantastic site. I'd planned to shoot skimmer chicks, but the presence of other photographers with their lenses trained on the same and limited number of photogenic examples was a turnoff. I want unique frames, so I abandoned the chicks, found my own space, and focused on photographing flying skimmers and feeding shorebirds instead. I had to adapt my plan, but I walked away with frames other shooters overlooked or found too challenging. My arms were useless after swinging the DX2 and 600mm for 2-3 hours each morning! Every shot in the post was taken handheld (i.e. without a tripod).

***Click the first image for a larger view, then

arrow through the rest in that better format***

Black Skimmer (with Killie minnow) - Rynchops niger 

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/1600 at f/5.6, ISO 1600

Lucky this was sharp with the slow shutter!

American Oystercatcher (with sand flea) - Haematopus palliatus

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/3200 at f/5.6, ISO 1250

American Oystercatcher - Haematopus palliatus

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/3200 at f/5.6, ISO 800

Black Skimmer (with needlefish) - Rychops niger

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/3200 at f/5.6, ISO 800

American Oystercatcher - Haematopus palliatus

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/4000 at f/5.6, ISO 500

Black Skimmer - Rynchops niger

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/3200 at f/5.6, ISO 640

Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/4000 at f/5.6, ISO 640

Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/4000 at f/5.6, ISO 640

American Oystercatcher - Haematopus palliatus

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/4000 at f/5.6, ISO 640

American Oystercatcher (with Sand Flea) - Haematopus palliatus

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/2000 at f/8, ISO 800

Black Skimmer - Rynchops niger

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/3200 at f/5.6, ISO 640

So, yeah, Nickerson is pretty sweet! Now, onto logistics/tips/strategies for those motivated to visit in the future!

First, parking at Nickerson Beach is FREE before 9am and after 5pm (it's $37 otherwise), the best hours for shooting. As long as you enter before 9am or after 5pm, you're gold; staff do not, for example, come around at 9:15am and ticket cars already inside. When you enter, you'll go around a sharp right-hand bend (red on above image) and see 3-4 entrance lanes in front of you. If it's before 9 or after 5, the ticket booths will be closed and cones will block all but one of the entrance lanes. Just drive through the open lane, continue another 200 yards, and turn left into the large parking lot I've marked on the map above. Park in the southeast corner (decent restrooms, open early and late), follow the trail over the dunes, and walk 300 yards east to the primary nesting area holding the highest number of birds. I saw birds in the secondary area from a distance but never checked it out since I was so wrapped up with the primary.

This is an old arial. The primary nesting area is

now filled with beautiful beach grass. It's perfect habitat.

Approx arc of summer sun through the day in yellow.

Second, the oystercatchers, terns, and skimmers nest and hatch/fledge young at different times. The oystercatchers breed May into June, the terns June into July, and the skimmers July into August. These are the loose windows, and there is leeway for each species. During my visit (August 5-8), for example, there wasn't an oystercatcher chick in sight; a few terns were still feeding young, and the skimmers were in full swing. So, you need to pick your species if you want to focus on chicks.

Black Skimmer - Rynchops niger 

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark 

1/3200 at f/7.1, ISO 640

Third, the lighting can be a bit tricky as the beach runs east-west. It is important to arrive early (more on that in the next section), and shooting is mostly restricted to the eastern and western ends of the roped-off nesting areas when it's sunny. The sun does swing to the south of the colony mid-morning, but it's too steep to use by the time it does. Overcast offers a bit more positional and temporal flexibility, but you'll lose color and contrast and your auto-focus might hunt a bit more when the birds are against the dunes (if you're seeking flight shots). The sun illuminates the surf beautifully at the beginning and end of each day, and the best results are obtained from getting onto your belly and shooting parallel to the beach as birds chase the waves in and out.

Black Skimmer (with Menhaden) - Rynchops niger 

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX Mark 

1/2500 at f/4, ISO 2000

Fourth, go early and/or stay late. The sun rises between 5am and 6am and sets between 8pm and 9pm during the summer months, and the best shooting will be 2 to 2.5 hours after or before those events, respectively. If it's sunny, the rest of the day will be plagued by steep lighting, ugly shadows, and washed out colors. There are always fewer general beachgoers in the morning, so it's best to drag yourself out of bed and use those earliest hours. I arrived at 6am, shot from 6:30am to 9:00am, birded elsewhere until 5pm, and returned to shoot until sundown. Ssunrise/set times will vary over the summer, so be sure to research the times ahead of your visit.

Peregrine Falcon (eating tern fledgling) - Falco peregrinus

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX Mark 

1/1000 at f/5.6, ISO 1600

Fifth, Nickerson is NOT a good place to shoot skimmers skimming. You may get an occasional pass along the front beach, but they mostly feed on the bay behind the barrier island. There is no access to that area as far as I could tell. You'll see the feeding birds returning over the dunes and along the beach, and you'll be able to capture the sort of flight+prey shots I've shown here once you identify the feeding lanes and understand the light angles. As always, look to keep you shutter at 1/2500 (and preferably 1/3200 or 1/4000) for flight work.

Sunset Sanderlings

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/5000 at f/4, ISO 400

Lastly, there are a lot of good birding spots around Nickerson. I would particularly recommend the compact Oceanside Marine Nature Study Center (eBird hotspot, but closed Sundays and Mondays) north across the bay and the expansive Jones Beach (main eBird hotspot) to the east. Lido Beach Passive Nature Area (eBird hotspot) is virtually across the street from Nickerson and worth a quick stop if you have time to kill. Down the road, Point Lookout (eBird hotspot) can hold interesting waterfowl in winter. Birding on Long Island is generally slowest in summer, but I still found enough birds to hold my attention during my August visit.

OK, that's it for this installment. Not sure what's up next, but I'll think of something...