LATEST NEWS FROM LINDSAY’S NEST CHECK
AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS
Although we lost the four nests we were following on the south end, as of Lindsay’s last nest check we have 2 active nests on SWB. We have a number of oystercatchers visiting the colony now resulting in territorial displays by the lone oystercatcher on the beach whose mate is on the nest. At times, oystercatchers who have lost nests at Masonboro Island, for example, and have given up trying to re-nest will visit Wrightsville Beach and disturb the nesting birds here. The piping is loud and the head bobbing displays are rather comical and fun to watch.
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| photo by Bonnie-Jeanne Berg |
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| photos by Kevin Giannini |
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| Little CP2 in the summer of '15 photo by Michelle Frazier |
Some really wonderful Oystercatcher news….A lot of effort goes into banding American Oystercatchers in North Carolina with green “field readable” bands so we can follow the specific activities of a particular bird. Yesterday Lindsay was able to recapture an Oystercatcher with the green band of CP2 on Lea-Hutaff Island. CP2 and her mate are re-nesting with a one-egg clutch. CP2 is a female (DNA from her feathers determined that she is a female) fledged from the south end of Wrightsville Beach in 2015…the last year we fledged chicks on Wrightsville Beach!!! How fantastic is that!!! One of “our” chicks is now nesting in our area….!!!! Lindsay’s dedication and hard work to capture and to band Oystercatchers in our area enables us to celebrate this wonderful event!
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| CP2 and CP3 being banded in '15 photo by Don Ellson |
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| CP3 and CP2 with parent on SWB in '15 photo by John Sutton |
The nesting Black Skimmers did better this last nest check and only lost 3 nests of the 16 specific nests that Lindsay is monitoring due to predation.
Large groups of Black Skimmers continue to gather at the water’s edge to cool themselves and switch places with their mates on nests in the dunes. There were over 250 by the water on Tuesday this week, and 232 yesterday. The Wrightsville Beach Bird Stewards love sitting with the Skimmers at the water’s edge and chatting with people about these beautiful birds as they walk by. Our beach visitors love hearing how the Black Skimmers migrate from South America to nest here with us!
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| Impatience! photos by Bill Segur |
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| The Brood-to-Be (notice eggs in nest!) photo by Bill Segur |
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| The Expectant Couple photo by Bill Segur |
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| photos by Bonnie-Jeanne Berg |
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| photos by Bonnie-Jean Berg |
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| photos by Mary-Ann Walton |
COMMON TERNS
We have 3 active nests as of our last check. Avian predators (likely crows) have hit them hard.
WILLETS
It is likely that the Willets have taken their chicks towards the Coast Guard Station and Banks Channel. We have not had any reports of chicks on the beach or caught in the inlet current this year. Nor have we seen any aggressively protecting behavior of the Willets recently which leads us to believe that they have moved their chicks.
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| photo by Bonnie-Jeanne Berg |
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