Some of you might recall when I wrote about Oystercatcher nests at this location in the past two years and their need of protection. NPS promised to help but the two sets of eggs were gone before they showed up. This year, when I discovered a nest with three eggs, I decided not to ask for help because I found it futile in this forsaken place with so many predators around. I didn't expect this nest to survive either. I also found another nest of Willet with three eggs at the same time, but that nest disappeared within few days and that made me even less hopeful for the Oystercatcher eggs. But destiny has another idea, I guess. The nest has survived and yesterday, I was very happy to see two eggs already hatched and produced two healthy chicks. the third egg should hatch by today or tomorrow. Now, we have another problem. In addition to natural predators, this beach is famous for off-leash dogs running around freely. A few days ago, I saw an off-leash dog barking heavily over a Horseshoe Crab trying to lay eggs and the Horseshoe crab was trying to get back to the water. The owner was so happy about her dog, she was filming the whole episode on her cell phone. It was so upsetting. I am afraid for the Oystercatcher chicks now. Should anything be done to help them? and will NPS interfere in time now? To see a video of this new family: https://twitter.com/BirdBrklyn/status/1537266916095574016 And to see photos: https://ebird.org/atlasny/checklist/S113027759
Gus Keri -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
