Here’s a little bit more about the Oystercatchers living on my company’s parking area and their little ones. In Danish they are called “Strandskade” and is a common bird at Denmark north sea shore. While not being a rare species it’s a lot of fun to watch them daily, check if all of their three kids are still there, and if they’re all right.
Today I had my bigger Zoom (Nikkor VR 70-300) with me, so I could get a little closer (optically), and I found out that they don’t have a nest at all. And as there is no higher vegetation on the parking lot, the fledglings just cover underneath one of the parents, as far as possible.
When there’s danger in sight, which in this case obviously was me, then the birds try to distract the enemy from the place where the kids are covering. They simulate being hurt and unable to fly, pretending being an easy prey for the attacker. I have to add that I’m very careful, and they chose a distant area that’s nearly unused. But as it’s a populated place anyway I don’t mind passing by carefully and with a good distance.
The biddies are well camouflaged, even on the asphalt of the parking lot. They are hard to find if you don’t know where to look, and when they are not moving. Even when it’s quite obvious in this picture, their camouflage works much better in real life. Good for them, as there are seagulls circling over the area all the time.
I also found an eggshell, which hopefully stems from an emerged bird, and is not the residue of a successful raid. It’s clearly a Haematopus ostralegus, as Wikipedia knows.
Here are some more pictures of the family. I hope that I can watch them growing up and learning to fly. Would be so cute to see them doing their first flight tests and become airborne.
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