May 4
WE HAVE NESTS!!!
There were four pairs of Oystercatchers and now four Oystercatcher nests!!! NC Audubon staff were able to band one of the Oystercatchers. The newly banded Oystercatcher has a green band that reads CKX in white letters. Keep your eyes open to find our new resident.
Over 300 Black Skimmers were counted in Masonboro Inlet during last week’s bird survey and there were well over 230 in the posting yesterday. The Black Skimmers are in the early stages of courtship and are beginning to make scrapes and you may see them kicking sand. Jen Johnson was at the colony last night and actually took some pictures of a few pairs mating. Love is in the air on the south end of Wrightsville Beach!!
 |
| photo by Jen Johnson |
What appears to be our first Common Tern nest has been spotted on one of the front dunes. The nest is easy to see from the beach!
Weekly Bird Walks
Here are photos from our first weekly Bird Walk. Make sure you remember to schedule a visit (or several visits) during the nesting season. The walks are held every Monday morning, leaving at 9 a.m. from the gazebo at Public Access 43, on the south end of Wrightsville Beach.
May 6
Although the focus of the nesting colony is Least Terns, Common Terns, Black Skimmers, and Oystercatchers, there is always a chance to see other species hanging around. A Gull Billed Tern (easy to identify because of its thick black bill) paid a visit last week. Other recent visitors included (from top left, clockwise) Black Bellied Plover, Killdeer, Sandwich Terns, and Royal Terns.
As reports of Tropical Storm Ana hitting the Wilmington area increased, concerns for the birds nesting in the open areas of beach caused alarm. On Saturday Nancy Fahey shared.... "I thought everyone would be glad to see the colony hunkered down and safely hanging out near the dunes. The birds knew just how to ride out the storm! They all had their backs to the wind, plus the natural curve of the inlet gave them some protection from the worst of the onslaught. Mother Ocean was kickin' up her heels and showin' her beasty side this moring!"
On Saturday the newly formed Least Tern colony was in good shape with about 20 nests and a lot of courtship activity, as seen in the first two photos. However, over night, the high tide associated with Tropical Storm Ana overwashed the front of the posting clear to the dune line. When staff returned to check again between rain bands, unfortunately, the area was indeed entirely overwashed. The nests (and the decoys) were all lost. The oystercatchers, fortunately, all have high ground in and among the dunes so it's likely their eggs will be fine. The Common Terns, which had also just begun nesting, may have lost some nests also due to heavy rain. It's early in the season, though, so we expect renesting, and even in Ana, the Least Terns were still fish feeding and roosting on the beach with the skimmers.
Although the focus of the nesting colony is Least Terns, Common Terns, Black Skimmers, and Oystercatchers, there is always a chance to see other species hanging around. A Gull Billed Tern (easy to identify because of its thick black bill) paid a visit last week. Other recent visitors included (from top left, clockwise) Black Bellied Plover, Killdeer, Sandwich Terns, and Royal Terns.
May 9
As reports of Tropical Storm Ana hitting the Wilmington area increased, concerns for the birds nesting in the open areas of beach caused alarm. On Saturday Nancy Fahey shared.... "I thought everyone would be glad to see the colony hunkered down and safely hanging out near the dunes. The birds knew just how to ride out the storm! They all had their backs to the wind, plus the natural curve of the inlet gave them some protection from the worst of the onslaught. Mother Ocean was kickin' up her heels and showin' her beasty side this moring!"
May 10
The 4 American Oystercatcher (AMOY) nests were still going strong as of Friday, although one nest lost an egg for reasons unknown. Because the oystercatchers like the Common Terns are nesting in and among the dunes, they were above the extra high tides from Tropical Storm Ana.
The Black Skimmers (BLSK) are still in the early stages of courtship, scraping and hanging out at the south end, and in fact 200-300 of them rode out Ana hunkered down among the dunes.
The Common Terns (COTE) have begun nesting. NC Audubon staff found nine nests on Friday which had 1-3 eggs. At least three nests were visible from outside of the posting. Unfortunately, some of these nests may have been lost due to heavy rains from Ana.
On Friday, NC Audubon staff also had found about 20 Least Tern (LETE) nests in the front of the posting. We counted 98 LETE adults on the south end.
BUT
Unfortunately, on Sunday morning the entire front area of the posting… up to the dunes …had been overwashed during the night. Although Ana was not a strong storm…it was slow moving…allowing it to push more water in front of it onto the land…via waves. All of the least tern nests and decoys were washed away as a result. :(
IN SUMMARY...
On Saturday the newly formed Least Tern colony was in good shape with about 20 nests and a lot of courtship activity, as seen in the first two photos. However, over night, the high tide associated with Tropical Storm Ana overwashed the front of the posting clear to the dune line. When staff returned to check again between rain bands, unfortunately, the area was indeed entirely overwashed. The nests (and the decoys) were all lost. The oystercatchers, fortunately, all have high ground in and among the dunes so it's likely their eggs will be fine. The Common Terns, which had also just begun nesting, may have lost some nests also due to heavy rain. It's early in the season, though, so we expect renesting, and even in Ana, the Least Terns were still fish feeding and roosting on the beach with the skimmers.
May 11
Although the colony took a big hit from Ana, after this morning's bird walk there is great reason for hope. New Least Tern decoys are already in place and creating a "try, try again" attitude!
 |
| Marlene Eader demonstrates Least Tern nesting habits |
 |
| Black Skimmers in Abundance and Making Lots of Noise |
 |
| Bird Stewards and Guests on Weekly Bird Walk |
 |
| New Decoys Already Attracting Least Terns |
And as we watch the birds.... they are keeping their eyes on us!
No comments:
Post a Comment