Wrightsville Beach Bird Stewards: June 2022

Thursday, June 30, 2022

Chicks Are Busy Feasting and Fledglings Are Testing Their Wings

Photo by Martin West

The Black Skimmers and Common Terns are still incubating eggs and chicks are hatching throughout the colony. Many of the fledglings are starting to test their newly developed wings and are learning to fly. It is a full time job for the parents to keep their chicks fed and to protect them from the heat and predators. Sometimes it's difficult to believe the chicks can swallow the large fish their parents bring to them.

Several of our beach visitors and Wrightsville Beach Bird Stewards have captured these moments in some amazing photographs.

Photos by Martin West

photos by Patricia Ihnat

photos by Camille Daniels

REMINDER...

Free Bird Walks with Wrightsville Beach Bird Stewards

South end of Wrightsville Beach
9 a.m. every Monday this Summer
Meet at the gazebo at Beach Access 43

Join Wrightsville Beach Bird Stewards for a FREE bird walk at Audubon’s sanctuary at the south end of Wrightsville Beach.

Every Monday, free tours begin at 9 a.m. at the wooden gazebo. You’ll get a guided tour from a knowledgeable volunteer and up-close looks at our resident nesting birds, including Least Terns and Black Skimmers. If you come soon, you may catch a glimpse of baby birds learning to fly.

You’ll also learn how you can help protect these beach-nesting birds by keeping your distance and using the beach with birds in mind.

We hope to see you there!

Friday, June 10, 2022

The Colony Evolves

Least Tern fledgling practicing flight
photo by Kevin Giannini

LEAST TERNS (LETE)

As the days become hotter, you will see the parent birds continuing to protect their chicks from heat stress by shading them or standing close to the chicks as the chicks seek shade by a nearby plant. Protecting chicks from Ghost Crab and Gull predation also continues.

We are beginning to see LETE “fledglings” and several are attempting and practicing flight. Several LETE are re-nesting and incubating eggs.

photo by Tom Hanna

photo by Kevin Giannini

COMMON TERNS (COTE)

Common Tern chicks can be seen throughout the posting and the COTE parents have been actively keeping beachgoers (and bird stewards!) a safe distance away. We have Common Tern nests throughout the posting. Incubation and hatching continues.

photo by Tom Hanna

photo by Kathy Hannah

photo by Patricia Ihnat

BLACK SKIMMERS (BLSK)

We have 97 Black Skimmer nests with the potential for another 20 nests. Chicks have begun hatching and can be seen oceanfront and on the inlet side on the west side of the posting (towards the Coast Guard Station). A total of 234 Black Skimmers breeding…not counting the non-breeding skimmers who are too young to mate this year.

If you see a Black Skimmer flying in with a fish, follow it with your binoculars right to its nest to feed chicks. Adorable! Courtship, mating, nesting and incubation continues.

photo by Tom Hanna

photo by Kevin Giannini

AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS (AMOY)

We are saddened to report that EMY’s chick disappeared sometime Thursday night (6/2). We believe that it could have been the result of a ghost crab.

photo by Tom Hanna

These photographs (taken on Thursday afternoon, 6/2) are from the last time we saw the AMOY chick.

photo by Renee Tevelow

You may now see both pairs of Oystercatchers (EMY & mate) and (CT4 & CF0) on the south end and in the posting. We remain optimistic that next year may be more successful for them.

photo by Tom Hanna

photo by Martin West

Friday, June 3, 2022

Our Shorebirds Are Demonstrating Incredible Parenting Skills

Black Skimmer chicks.... note the speckled egg between them!
photo by Gretchen Schramm

NEST CHECK NUMBERS

Lindsay, our NC Audubon biologist, was able to do a nest check in the early morning of 5/31 and we have some numbers for you. A special thanks to our great bird friends, Jill and Kate, who braved going into the colony with the aggressive Common Terns to count nests with Lindsay!

LEAST TERNS (LETE) – Incubation and hatching continues for the Least Terns and most of the day is spent protecting their chicks from predators. As the days become hotter, you will see the parent birds continuing to protect their chicks from heat stress by shading them or standing close to the chicks as the chicks seek shelter/shade by a nearby plant. Lindsay counted 16 LETE chicks and 4 LETE re-nesting and incubating eggs. Some of the LETE chicks have already begun transforming to fledglings and a few have even been seen trying their wings.

photo by Martin West

COMMON TERNS (COTE) – Common Tern chicks can be seen on top of the dunes Oceanside and on the inlet side. We have about 10 Common Tern nests throughout the posting.

photo by Cordelia Norris

Common Tern triplets on the soundside
photo by Cordelia Norris

BLACK SKIMMERS (BLSK) – Lindsay counted 97 Black Skimmer nests and a few are beginning to hatch. Chicks can also be seen Oceanside just below the Common Tern nest that is on top of the dune. Courtship, mating, nesting and incubation continues. We have another 20 pairs making scrapes.

Notice the egg under the parent and the 3 very new chicks nearby.
photo by Patricia Ihnat

photo by Patricia Ihnat

photos by Gretchen Schramm

photos by Kathy Hannah

photo by Gretchen Schramm

These next two photographs by Patricia Ihnat demonstrate our Black Skimmers "skimming"!

OYSTERCATCHERS (AMOY) – We have one Oystercatcher chick on the beach by the AMOY pair (one parent is banded EMY) that nested on the inlet side of the posting. The Oystercatcher family made its appearance Saturday (5/21). So adorable…you will just want to watch them all day!

Photo by Kathy Hannah

Photo by Martin West

It appears that the other Oystercatcher pair has lost their chick. CT4 and mate CF0 were seen together on the Oceanside of the nesting colony together without their chick on Sunday evening (5/29).

Parent birds work hard to get their chicks to the water to drink and cool their bodies. We our encourage beach guests to stop and enjoy this unique opportunity to see this behavior.

It is very important that all the chicks are able to get to the water to prevent heat stress so PLEASE observe from a safe distance. Our behaviors affect the bird’s behaviors. If we are standing too close, looking at them with binoculars, taking photos, or standing between the birds and the water, the parent birds will not escort their chick to the water.

You will also notice wooden shelters have been placed in the colony. We are hopeful that the shelters will protect the various chicks from heat stress and also make it more difficult for predation from gulls.

photo by proud grandma Kathy Hannah