Yearly we observe each egg and chick loss amongst our Pied Oystercatcher pairs alongside Cable Seashore and likewise in Roebuck Bay throughout their breeding season. The breeding season begins across the finish of June and there are nonetheless eggs being laid and chicks hatching, however now these are the second clutches of eggs. We’ve noticed as much as 5 makes an attempt by some pairs of Pied Oystercatchers in a season. There’s often a niche of round ten days between egg or chick loss and the following clutch of eggs being laid. The urge to breed is clearly robust sufficient for them to maintain making an attempt it and fortunately because of the longevity of the species they can change themselves throughout their lifetime. Nearly all of the Pied Oystercatchers that had been marked in Broome a few years in the past at the moment are nonetheless breeding at over twenty years of age.
Sadly the household of Pied Oystercatchers that I launched you to a few weeks in the past have misplaced their chicks and we’re hopeful they might try and breed once more, however it’s also getting late within the season. One different pair of Pied Oystercatchers have simply hatched out their eggs and so they have moved the chicks in the direction of the seashore from the rocky outcrop that they used as their nest website. The nest website is simply to the South of the place the planes are available to land at Broome airport and it’s a noisy location. Within the header picture you possibly can see how low the planes are available over Cable Seashore earlier than they land.
Within the picture under the nest website and the brand new roost for the newly hatched chicks are seen, however solely as a result of I do know the place they had been and now are! That is the furthest now we have recognized the Pied Oystercatchers nest from the shoreline. It’s a lengthy stroll for little legs!
Nest website and new roost website
The nest website was in place to have good surrounding views of any threats within the space.
Sitting on the second clutch of eggs
View from the nest space
I knew the eggs ought to have hatched this week and after I walked alongside an empty seashore at excessive tide I quickly discovered the grownup Pied Oystercatchers had moved their household in the direction of the shoreline. The egg shells are at all times eliminated as soon as the chicks have hatched by the grownup Pied Oystercatchers and now we have noticed them being dropped near the ocean. Inside a matter of hours they’re on the transfer and on this space there should not many locations to cover as soon as you allow the rocky outcrop.
I had solely simply change into seen to the Pied Oystercatchers after they known as out to the chicks with their acquainted alarm name. We take pleasure in listening to the alarm name, as a result of it signifies that there are chicks and when they’re silent we all know they’ve misplaced their younger. The Pied Oystercatchers by no means keep collectively when there’s a menace. One of many adults will stay with the chicks and the opposite will act as a decoy, so you must resolve which is the extra seemingly location for the chicks from the 2 choices. The male of this pair of Pied Oystercatchers at all times seems to tackle extra of the protective duties, however we additionally know he’s an previous hen.
Pied Oystercatcher with chicks
I walked broadly across the space and took a number of images hoping that I’d be capable of work out if each chicks had survived to this point. From all the footprints across the space they had been clearly concentrating on this spot for his or her roost.
Roost with chicks
As soon as I zoomed in on the picture at residence on the pc I may clearly see that there have been two Pied Oystercatcher chicks to guard hidden within the vegetation.
Pied Oystercatcher chicks
As soon as once more we hope they’ve extra luck with this second clutch of eggs, however there are quite a few threats now they will run and conceal, however not fly. In the event that they make it to forty days we can be extra optimistic. It’s a lengthy strategy to go, however we will reside in hope……
