June 18/ Sea Hares, Lots of Chicks, Oystercatcher Banding, and More

 Lots of adventure at the colony last week. Several bird stewards were excited to see two Sea Hares on the beach. Both were "swimming" along the shoreline. This was a first for all of us.

And then there are lots of new chicks. The skimmer chicks are very demanding of their parents. The 90+ degree weather has been challenging. Chicks were seen taking refuge under their parents and in the dunes. It is so much fun to ask people passing by if they'd like to see the chicks. Then once they look through the scopes or binoculars an entirely new world is revealed to them.

Black Skimmer Chicks

Common Tern Chicks

The common tern chicks are rapidly growing bigger. They will actually be larger than their parents before they finally slim down and fledge. (Fledge is the stage in a young bird's life when the feathers and wing muscles are sufficiently developed for flight.)

Welcome CKK/ Oystercatcher Banding

Our NC Audubon coastal biologist, Lindsay Addison, came to the colony last week to band our American Oystercatcher chick. It was a fascinating process to witness.

Step 1: Catch the chick!

Step 2: When Lindsay turned the chick over and placed him/her gently in her lap, the chick seemed to be in a trance.

Step 3: Then it was time to but on two bands. One has a tracing number and the other is a bright green band with the large letters CKK. Color banding individual birds helps researchers learn about demographics, movement, habitat requirements, and survival, but only if people report the locations of banded birds. 

Step 4: Lindsay then recorded a series of measurements and weighed our chick.

Step 5: Several bird stewards took a moment to be "up close and personal" with our newly named oystercatcher, CKK, before the chick was released. We are happy to report the chick was seen later that day happily reunited with his/her parent.

And finally.... here is a  shot of how creative our photographers are in their attempts to record life in the nesting colony.

And don't forget to look carefully as you enter the colony for other signs of life!

Chick Update, June 12, 2014

My 6 year old laptop died and it has been a bit of a learning curve for me to figure out how to update our blog using my iPad. But I think I'm back.  

At this stage of the colony the pictures seem to speak for themselves. Lots of chicks to be seen and new ones appearing everyday.  

Marlene shared this skimmer and chick photo taken through her scope using her phone (a skill I have not yet mastered!)...

Here are more chick pics from Jen...

I have been putting in some extra Grandma World hours and only got to the colony once this week. But I think our birds knew I was there because I saw skimmer, common tern, and oystercatcher chicks in the 15 minutes I was there yesterday. 

There's a full moon tonight and the view should be great throughout the weekend. Hope to see you at the beach looking through your binoculars with a big smile on your face as you meet our babies:)

Skimmer Chicks and More. June 10, 2014

If you are going to the nesting colony just once a week, you may want to come more often for the next couple weeks because there is cuteness everywhere!!  We have been watching the Oystercatcher chick grow like crazy since Memorial Day weekend and now we are starting to spot Black Skimmer chicks and the Common Tern chicks too!!

Lindsay discovered the Black Skimmers were starting to hatch on Saturday (6/7) during her regular nest check.   Garold, Michelle, and Jeannie have all spotted black skimmer chicks with their binoculars and scopes within the last 2 days.  Just be watchful for parents coming back to the colony with fish and follow them with your optics…they will lead you right to the nest and you can see the little ones!

Marlene was able to assist Lindsay with her nest check on Monday morning (6/9) and took a couple of pictures to share with you with her iPhone.

Black Skimmer hatchlings are so adorable…..

NESTING ACTIVITY

The Black Skimmers have over 100 nests now, and are scraping and laying more eggs and incubating, hatching and feeding!  Lots of activity now!   Nests are located in the front of the highway, and the side dunes, so if you are on ocean front side of the nesting area, you will be able to show people skimmers there too.   Follow the adults coming in with fish with your optics and you will see chicks!

We now have 12 Common Tern nests and they are also hatching.  A few more pictures that I took yesterday morning with my iPhone during the nest check with Lindsay…. Notice the sophisticated nest the common tern builds compared to the scrapes of the other birds….

Least Terns are still in the area and continue to make scrapes.  It is difficult for them to be successful with small numbers and the local crow “murder”, but they keep trying.  I love that!  I will keep you posted if we see any eggs.  We saw a number of scrapes ocean side along the side dunes.

The first Oystercatcher pair has one remaining chick which can be seen sound side being fed regularly by the parents.   This little guy is getting big!  Layne has been referring to him as “Rye” as in Catcher in the Rye….  I think it is catchy!!  The second pair seems to have lost their remaining chick.  The other two pairs are still in the dunes and incubating their eggs.

 

LUMINA NEWS ARTICLE ABOUT NORTH END OF WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH….

 

This week’s issue of the Lumina News has an article detailing the poor condition of the posting at the north end of Wrightsville Beach and the devastating effect on the birds that were nesting in the area over the Memorial Day holiday.  Lindsay has several important comments.  

 

We encourage you to read the article and if you are so motivated, consider writing a short Letter to the Editor supporting appropriate management of the area to support nesting shorebirds and sea turtles.

 

Here is a link to the article….

 

http://luminanews.com/2014/06/bird-nesting-disrupted-as-negotiations-continue/

We have more chicks!!

Lindsay did a nest check last night and saw our first newly hatched Common Tern….isn’t it adorable!!

Here is an adult Common Tern (perhaps the proud parent).

NESTING ACTIVITY
The Black Skimmers have over 40 nests now, and are scraping and laying more eggs and incubating. They are nesting both in the front dunes, the west, the highway, and the side dunes, so if you are on the ocean front, you will be able to see skimmers there too.   We should begin seeing some chicks in the next 2 weeks.

We now have 12 Common Tern nests.

We have a new Least Tern nest…we wish this little pair the best of luck!  It is very difficult for a lone nest but they keep trying!

The first oystercatcher pair has one remaining chick which can be seen sound side being fed regularly by the parents.  The second pair seems to have lost their remaining chick.  The other two pairs are still in the dunes and incubating their eggs.

This Sandwich Tern (notice the yellow tipped bill) stopped by for a visit this morning. 

When You See a Skimmer

If you click on the link above you will find an insightful article on seeing skimmers on the beach. It was written by UNCW Professor David Gessner whose words far exceed my ability to describe these beautiful birds. 

In his words ....
"Skimmers are not the only miraculous animals after all, and human beings excel, beyond all else, at becoming absorbed in their own self stories. But if you actually turn away from those stories and look at these birds for a moment, really look, you’ll need to pause and briefly rearrange the way you think about the world. 

Here’s what you’ll see:

A line of birds flying along the shore, the size of small gulls but unmistakably not gulls. Maybe they’re terns, you think for a second, but like no terns you’ve ever seen. An electric red-orange shines from the bills before abruptly turning black halfway toward the tip. It’s a candy-corn color, a color from the pages of a comic book, certainly not something you’d expect to find on real birds. But they are real, and the only birds that have a lower mandible longer than the upper, the better for scooping. They patrol the shore, jaws dropped (like yours maybe), grazing the water and hoping for accidental contact with a fish. At the merest touch, a built-in tactile trigger in their jaw sends a signal to their upper bill, the maxilla, which instantaneously snaps shut."