Oystercatchers

I got started on ringing a few of the Oystercatcher chicks that are out and about now on Canna.

I have found 8 Oystercatcher nests over the last week or so, and have been monitoring them for the BTO. The only problem is timing their hatching, as like all waders, they do leave the nest very early. This isn't a problem from a ringing point of view, as with a bit of patience and good luck, you can find downy, flightless chicks that can be ringed once they've left the nest, but from a productivity point of view it would be good to see how many eggs actually hatch, and what the survival rate of those chicks is.

With only 339 pulli (chicks) ringed in the whole of the country last year, I hope to be able to increase our knowledge of these birds by making a study of the Canna breeding population. And as the oldest ever recorded Oystercatcher reached an impressive 40 years old, a huge amount of useful data can be generated from ringing these birds.