Least Tern Surprise

The wind was a challenge yesterday but we anchored our chairs in the sand and sat awhile. We were watching this one Least Tern who kept returning to a spot just a few FEET in front of us. Surprisingly she seemed to be rejecting offers of fish from eager males.  

If there is any doubt as to how well camoflauged these eggs are on the beach, take a look at the photos I took of her. We NEVER saw this egg while we were sitting there! I could not believe my eyes when I uploaded the pictures just now.

May 4-11 / A Week of UPS and DOWNS and BACK UP

It has been a rollercoaster ride of events at the bird colony on the south end of Wrightsville Beach this week.

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.

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!

Some Great Publicity (and a correction)

The Wrightsville Beach Bird Stewards are honored to be featured in an article written for this month's SALT Magazine.

But one important correction!

The weekly Bird Walk is held each Monday NOT Friday. 

A Slow (but steady) Start

April 22

The birds are checking out the beach!

April 23

WE HAVE A NEST!!!

We have much more activity this week as more and more black skimmers arrive!  One Bird Steward counted 214 black skimmers!   

We have seen 4 pairs of American Oystercatchers on the south end…and an Audubon staff member discovered our first nest (a scrape with an egg) this week!   The pair of Oystercatchers in front of the condos on the north end also has a nest now!  Looks like we could potentially have chicks before Memorial Day this year! 

April 27

Looks like the Skimmers are starting to pair up!

April 30

Some of you may have noticed our Least Tern "colony". Audubon staff members put out decoys in the hopes of attracting the terns back to the south end now that the dredging is over and they have new habitat. Keep your eyes peeled for the real thing!

May 1 - 2

The least tern decoys just may be working! Although at times there seems to be some confusion as a fish (aka marriage proposal) is offered to a decoy.  For those walking on the beach it may just be a challenge to tell what is or isn't the "real thing". (Can you spot the live terns?)

The willets, oystercatchers, common terns and an occassional royal tern are also making regular appearances.

photo by Laura Scullin

Nesting Season Opens (2015)

(The following is from an article published in the Lumina News written by Miriah Hamrick on April 1, 2015.)  

          A few American oystercatchers were first to land on Wrightsville’s beach strand, kicking off the 2015 nesting season late in March.  

The oystercatchers are typically the first shorebirds to nest after pairing off and establishing nesting territory, said Audubon North Carolina Coastal Biologist Lindsay Addison. She expects black skimmers, least terns and common terns to arrive and nest later in April.

“We hope to have the entire cast of characters back this year,” Addison said.

(Bird Stewards post the nesting area on March 30th)

The south end bird habitat, enclosed March 30 to keep nests safe from human disturbance, was home to hundreds of nesting least tern pairs in previous years, but hosted no successful nests in 2014. Six pairs attempted to nest, but Addison attributed the failure to disturbance from marine construction crews dredging sand from Masonboro Inlet to pump on the beach for Wrightsville’s coastal storm damage reduction project.

“We basically lost the entire least tern colony,” Addison said. Because the south end has accreted sand over the past year, providing more open sandy habitat preferred by the birds, Addison said some of the lost least terns should return for the 2015 season. The chicks will fledge, or begin to fly, in June and July, a metric Audubon uses to determine the success of each species’ nesting efforts. Information about nesting birds inside the south end enclosure is available via Audubon volunteers, typically staffed around the enclosure perimeter. Beginning April 27, Audubon will also offer educational bird walks around the nesting habitat every Monday at 9 a.m., with groups meeting at the gazebo near Public Beach Access No. 43. Addison said beach visitors are often excited to observe the nesting birds and baby chicks.

“Most of the time, especially people who don’t live around here don’t know birds nest on the beach,” Addison said. “They didn’t know when they came to the south end they would get to see an egg or a chick, or adult birds courting and fishing. They’re doing all these different behaviors that are fun to watch, and it adds a different dimension to the beach.”

Several Bird Stewards have already been checking the area and the excitement is building for an amazing season.

Skimmers are everywhere!

 (photo by Laura Scullin, Bird Steward)

               .... why a skimmer is called a Skimmer!

(photo by MaryAnn Walton, Bird Steward)

Skimmers, and Royal Terns, and More!

Which is which? .... American Skimmer, Least Tern, Royal Tern!

Here are some great photos of the Least Tern courting behavior...... The male offers a fish to a potential mate and sometimes she excepts it!

(photo by Laura Scullin, Bird Steward)

 and sometimes she doesn't......

(photo by Laura Scullin, Bird Stewarad)

The Common Terns have also been seen checking out the beach!

(photo by MaryAnn Walton, Bird Stewarad)

So it looks like the full cast of characters has arrived. All that's missing is YOU!

Add caption:)