Black Oystercatcher

It was still on the cool side this April Fool’s Day with their being a light dusting of snow in some parts of the greater Vancouver area. The skies were blue when I headed down to the Tsawwassen area and the southern portion of Boundary Bay Regional Park. As Mountain Bluebirds have been reported of late, this would be a good spot to check as they usually pass through here each year at this time. While I had no luck on the Bluebird front,

… there were some Red-winged Blackbirds willing to cooperate.

There were a few busy amongst the bullrush/cattail.

Already being in Tsawwassen, I headed to the ferry causeway after this. Unfortunately the sun disappeared behind some clouds when I arrived and the wind off the water was cold.

Too bad the conditions turned for the worse as there were a few groups of Black Turnstone foraging along the shoreline. One of which appeared to have a Surfbird mixed in with them. It has been a while since I have managed any Surfbird shots.

The usual Black Oystercatcher were about as well. It was just too grey and cold to spend much time with them on the beach.

The trails were quiet this morning at Reifel, so in the afternoon I headed down to the Tsawwassen Ferry Causeway. The Black Oystercatcher is a shore bird that nests in the area and there should be juveniles by now. On arriving I could hear them and on checking the shoreline noticed several adults. There was lots of interaction going on, posturing and chasing each other. It was not until I worked my way further down that I found what I was looking for.

On spotting the juvenile I circled around and came in from the other side. I did not want to put myself between the juvenile and the adults.

This was the only juvenile I could see.

It was pretty much wandering around on its own.

While the adults were around,

… they seemed preoccupied with the other adult Oystercatchers. This was unfortunate as it would have been nice to get some interaction between the juvenile and adult(s). I left when the juvenile tucked itself away amongst the rocks for a rest.

Tag: Black Oystercatcher

Blackbird, Turnstone & Oystercatcher