The Nesting Colony Keeps Growing

This amazing nesting season just keeps going and going.  Usually by the end of July most of the chicks are already flying and learning to feed themselves.  But new chicks are still appearing this year.  This morning (7/28) a new Common Tern chick made an appearance after we had been watching the parents sitting for several weeks on a nest near the Coast Guard station.  The parents quickly led the new chick into the shade and created a shallow "nest" to keep it safe.

New Common Tern chick video
(click the link above to view on YouTube)

In other news we banded the other American Oystercatcher chick on 7/24.  Look for a young Oystercatcher with band EF8 when you are at the south end of Wrightsville Beach.

AND the Least Terns and Black Skimmers continue to entertain us.