Sea Pie

Lade - mild, dry and sunny, w 2 - Trudging around the local patch of late hasn't been a particularly pleasant experience what with a blasting wind off the Atlantic and rain at times. However, a much better day today heralded another sign of spring with the return of the resident Oystercatcher pair to the scaffold island on south lake.
  There are few wading birds with as many regional names as the Oystercatcher. Across northern Britain it was formerly known as `Cholder` or `Skeldo`, and further south as `Kleeper` and `Oik`, but my favourite is its old English name of `Sea Pie`. Ironically its common usage name of Oystercatcher is somewhat misleading as it seldom eats oysters.
  This large pied wader with a carrot-like bill and nail-varnish pink legs is commonly found around our bays and estuaries where it feeds predominantly on shellfish such as cockles and mussels, as well as crabs and lugworms. The power in that stout bill is formidable; next time you`re down the beach try prising open a tightly clamped cockle with your fingers. It`s almost impossible, but watch an Oystercatcher tease one open in an instant and you can see how in one tidal sitting it can eat as many as 500 cockles. I remember back in the 1970`s an Oystercatcher cull being implemented in parts of Wales to protect commercial cockle beds, which thankfully was rescinded after protests from conservation groups.
  Around 500 Oystercatchers winter on Lade bay and their wild `kleeping` calls are a familiar sound hereabouts as they over fly our cottage to roost out the high water on shingle islands nearby. As spring approaches numbers decline as pairs return to their breeding grounds, which may at an inland river valley gravel pit in the south or a moorland bog in the north.
  Nothing is straight forward with this fascinating bird. For example it will nest just about anywhere from amongst bare stones, in a tree stump or on a man-made structure. Locally Oystercatchers nest on caravans and even the visitor centre roof on the bird reserve where they have also taken to nesting in boxes on poles in the water, a good strategy against ground predators such as Fox and Stoat. Unlike most wader chicks that instinctively forage on the ground as soon as they break out of the egg, Oystercatcher young are unique in depending upon their parents for food. As a result the adults provide food for the first month until fledging, although the young may not be fully independent until a further four months.
  Long may the charismatic Sea Pie (which can live for up to 40 years) flourish among us on this over-crowded island, wherever that may be.