The last time a black skimmer chick hatched on Sanibel Causeway it was roughly the same year the Hubble Space Telescope was sent into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.
It took all that time, from the early 1990s until late spring of this year, to happen again.
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation’s volunteer shorebird team found the nest and photographed a chick poking out from under the black-and-white bird with the distinctive orange beak.
“In an exciting milestone, the first black skimmer chick has hatched at the Causeway since the early 1990s — the first successful nesting record we have been able to confirm in more than three decades,” Audrey Albrecht, a SCCF shorebird biologist, said. “Each season brings new challenges, but the dedication of our staff and volunteers allows us to protect these vulnerable birds across a wide and ever-changing landscape.”…