Baby Oystercatcher on Indian Island

Eastsound has a new baby

Article in the Sounder, written by Russel Barsh

Meet Ozzie, Eastsound’s new Oystercatcher chick.
He is fuzzy, gray and a bit awkward, and does not yet have the jet-black plumage or carrot-like red beak of an adult Oystercatcher.
Ozzie is the first Oystercatcher chick to survive on Indian Island in many years, thanks to WSU Beach Watchers and Indian Island Marine Health Observatory volunteers who asked visitors to avoid disturbing his nesting parents, and to the hundreds of visitors that respected that request. Ozzie is visible evidence of the value of a little extra care and attention to our marine wildlife.
Oystercatcher numbers have been declining throughout the Salish Sea. On Indian Island, there were more than a dozen Oystercatcher nests in the past. But Canada geese have begun congregating on Indian Island and chasing off the Oystercatchers. Ozzie’s parents built a nest on Indian Island in May, but were repeatedly chased off by geese. When the geese left Indian Island in June, Ozzie’s parents moved back. Indian Island volunteers saw three eggs on June 12. A single chick was seen two weeks later.
Since Ozzie hatched rather late in the season for an Oystercatcher and was unable to fly away to avoid the fireworks display, volunteers were relieved to see him foraging on the beach for barnacles, limpets and small crabs on July 10. He should be flying in another week or two. Only time will tell whether Ozzie will survive the winter and return to Indian Island next spring.