The odd Oystercatcher on the field at Torrisholme Cricket Club is not unusual. This morning we had ten systematically worming the outfield. The really unusual thing was that two SAT DOWN to roost. I've not seen this before, I thought that waders in general roosted standing up.

Oystercatchers do sometimes sit when roosting and are probably the most common 'sitters' in the UK. On warm sand Knot and Sanderling will often sit rather than stand however it rarely gets warm enough here for that!

Did you notice whether these were immature birds or full adults? Immature birds would have about a half brown bill and a muddier eye.

The reason I'm asking is we caught some at heysham last week and had 97% adults which is highly unusual (normally it is about 75% adults). If immature birds are feeding in fields over the high tides it would explain why we caught so few immature birds.

Thanks,
Richard

Thanks for this Richard

a few points:

The two Oyks sitting chose the square to sit on, not the outfield. The soil is very different, as is the species of grass and the foliage length (much shorter). Perhaps there was a marked temperature difference. From experience sheep do this too, much to a groundsman's frustration. I once made a single pitch of 20' x 66' over 3 acres of meadow and came to work in the morning to find a rectangle of sheep sitting on the key area of the field.

One reason for highlighting today's observation was that the tide was well OUT this morning around 11am. I would have expected all the Oyks to be on the shore feeding. I've seen ones and twos at TCC over the years but never ten, even on a really high tide. When worming they are very very efficient feeders and target the worm casts, not just random probing like a starling flock for chafer grubs. I'd give their hit rate 1 in 4-5 per prod.

In terms of the age of the birds, I am truly clueless. It never even occurred to me to try and see anything different. They all looked very adult and very similar. I will check again if they recur and take the scope. If I can help I will post.

Good to know I wasn't going mad watching Oyks sitting down.

Richard

Only 5 Oystercatcher on the field this morning, but that is still notable. 3 were of a similar type with the bright white 'chinstrap', reddish eye ring, pinkish legs and bright orange bill. 2 had a dull or indistinct chinstrap, paler legs, less glossy sheen to the overall black, similar looking eyes and a degree of darkness to the tip of the bill. I had to check carefully on the bills because on occasions they were all muddy. The feeding process did clean the bills sufficiently to be confident at least 3 were orange over the full length.

One assumes 2 juv/1st winter and the remainder adult. Hope this helps.

Thanks - Very useful information. I think what has happened after the cold spell is that poor quality birds have been displaced from prime feeding sites by good quality birds in need of food. As a result the hungry poor quality birds are going for alternative food supplies such as fields.

Just for info really - all the birds we checked at Heysham had completed their primary flight feather moult and were 97% adults. The birds I found dead on Foulney in January were 50% subadult (which are generally displaced by adults in cold weather from good feeding). The dead adults all had incomplete primary moult suggesting they were in trouble back in September/October.

Richard