Send more photos!

Here are some great photos/captions that John Sutton and Michelle Chase Frazier posted on the "Cape Fear Birding Group" Facebook page.

John Sutton

Aerial Combat - Common Terns

Peek-a-boo

Michelle Chase Frazier

   Gorgeous American Oystercatcher at the colony!

 6/7 Tropical Storm Andrea moves in over the colony.

One of the Oystercatchers has been rigged with a geolocator dealio, and we respectfully refer to this bird (shown here) as Radar. Here's Radar with two out of three chicks, one of which is actually eating an oyster!

 think this was our first Least Tern chick sightings of the season - 

fuzzy and invisible all at once, you can really only see them when they move.

 

American Oystercatcher chick exploring the beach. 

See the cuteness! SEE IT.

 I loved these two siblings, enjoying their 18 inches of independence from their parent.

A parent with a fish must have been flying in - somehow these chicks know when their parent is on the way with food and start begging like this before the parent even arrives.

6/20 There are chicks everywhere. 

Just randomly point your binocs or scope at the colony, and you will see chicks. 

Chicks everywhere you look!

That fish in the chick's beak disappeared after one impressive gulp! 

Black Skimmer at the shoreline. The pairs take turns tending to the nest/cooling off in the water.

You don't see me. You don't see me. You don't see me.

Tripods and cameras and scopes, oh my! Impromptu Monday night party with fellow bird nerds 

Least Tern chick, starting to mature and show actual feathers instead of downy fluff. 

That stick was one of many used to mark nest sites - wonder if this chick came from this one? 

This is a Common Tern chick. These guys are burly! Although they are not here in the same large numbers as the Least Terns, they are definitely getting their fair share of the fish. 

During the Audubon Chick Party, Kat spotted a Least Tern with two chicks snuggled under her wings. When she alerted the crowd, every eye, camera, scope, smartphone, and pair of binoculars turned in one direction. So much glass pointing at this sweet little scene! 

High Tide+Supermoon=YOWZA! This is our usual (dry) path to the colony, 

and it's still one more day before the peak of the moon's effect. 

If you have any photos you would like to share, or observations from the your visit to the nesting colony at Masonboro Island please send them to me at klh6@aol.com.