Hampton Virginia Archives | Lori A Cash Conservation Photography

An Unusual Nesting Site for an American Oystercatcher Pair

On a late spring morning, an American oystercatcher was foraging along the rocky shoreline searching for food as the tide was coming in. I observed and photographed this American oystercatcher as it was stabbing his brightly colored orange red bill into the water at the edge of the rocks. It would consistently find oysters just under the water’s surface. Using his sharp bill, the oystercatcher would pry open the oyster shell and extract the oyster with his long bill, but instead of eating the oyster, he would grab the oyster in his bill and fly off, carrying the oyster to feed his chick that was nearby. The male oystercatcher would repeatedly go searching and finding oysters and bring them back to feed his chick while the female American oystercatcher watched over their one chick.

An Unusual Nesting Site for an American Oystercatcher Pair post on Field Notes Blog by Lori A Cash Conservation Photography.

Community Input on Phoebus Waterfront Park in Hampton, Virginia

Brown pelicans roosting at sunrise on the pilings on Mill Creek at the Phoebus Waterfront Park in Hampton, Virginia.

Community Input on Phoebus Waterfront Park in Hampton, Virginia Blog Post on Field Notes Blog by Lori A Cash Conservation Photography

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