To describe my lifelong fascination with flight and with creatures that fly I like to echo the words of John James Audubon who in 1839 wrote of himself as "...one who never can cease to admire and to study with zeal and the most heartfelt reverence, the wonderful productions of an Almighty Creator."
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Black Oytstercatchers
I found another excuse to get out to the coast today, and could have been satisfied just to watch the huge waves crashing against the cliffs. But as usual, there were plenty of birds about to serve as "icing on the cake." At Depoe Bay 18 Black Oystercatchers were high and dry, snoozing and preening during the high tide. One of them must have been getting hungry; it repeatedly went back to probing in a small rainwater pool, but never appeared to find anything to eat. These birds were silent as I was watching them, but a good recording of the Black Oystercatcher's distinctive voice can be heard at http://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=148.
According to the Audubon Society Encyclopedia, Oystercatchers eat "mussels, clams, chitons, limpets, barnacles, oysters, crabs, marine worms, and other invertebrates." It seems that just about any small creature that lives in a tide pool or on a beach is fair game.
I found another excuse to get out to the coast today, and could have been satisfied just to watch the huge waves crashing against the cliffs. But as usual, there were plenty of birds about to serve as "icing on the cake." At Depoe Bay 18 Black Oystercatchers were high and dry, snoozing and preening during the high tide. One of them must have been getting hungry; it repeatedly went back to probing in a small rainwater pool, but never appeared to find anything to eat. These birds were silent as I was watching them, but a good recording of the Black Oystercatcher's distinctive voice can be heard at http://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=148.
2 Comments:
I have always liked these little birds, but why the name oystercatcher? do they in fact eat oysters?
According to the Audubon Society Encyclopedia, Oystercatchers eat "mussels, clams, chitons, limpets, barnacles, oysters, crabs, marine worms, and other invertebrates." It seems that just about any small creature that lives in a tide pool or on a beach is fair game.
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