10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2019

In fact we often don’t have any chicks within two weeks of the eggs hatching and other pairs along the coast have not been successful yet this season. More eggs have been laid and hopefully other pairs of Pied Oystercatchers will soon have young to care for. Female on the left and two chicks next to the male Pied Oystercatcher.

Eggs 151

Eggs Feral Cats Shelters Feral 151

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2019

An empty Pied Oystercatcher nest should mean that there are now chicks and that the parents have been sitting on a clutch of two eggs for twenty eight days. Some nests had clearly been there for some time and had contained eggs until recently. Pied Oystercatcher chicks can swim, but maybe feral cats will too if they are hungry.

Feral Cats 142

Feral Cats Eggs Feral Fox 142

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2018

We have been busy walking the beach and keeping an eye on our local Pied Oystercatchers and the two pairs that laid their eggs earliest for the 2018 breeding season and successfully hatched out their chicks have now lost their chicks to predation. They have only laid one egg so far and another may be laid within a day.

Eggs 157

Eggs Feral Cats Feral 2018 157

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 23, 2015

Since discovering our first Pied Oystercatcher nest on Cable Beach in July 2000 we have observed the breeding of these local shorebirds along the coast between Gantheaume Point in the south and Willie Creek in the north, which is a distance of 23 kilometres.

Feral Cats 163

Feral Cats Eggs Feral Cats 163

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

I once had a cat who loved to lick plastic bags, and while I find the pleasure in this hard to comprehend, it still seems more understandable to me than the joy (?) According to the HBW, when breeding, male birds do most of the incubation and parenting while females often leave the nest up to one week before the eggs hatch.

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2018

Two weeks ago I introduced you to two pairs of our Pied Oystercatchers that were early egg layers this year and this week the eggs have hatched out after twenty eight days of incubation. Both pairs of Pied Oystercatchers are in a very public area of Cable Beach, but they are always successful with their egg incubation each year.

2018 100

2018 Eggs Feral Cats Camels 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2011

We are into the second attempt at breeding for this season in Broome for Pied Oystercatchers. The first eggs are laid during the first week of July each year and if these eggs fail to hatch or the chicks are lost they will lay further eggs within a few weeks. Nest site with 3 eggs-one white!

2002 171

2002 Feral Cats Eggs 2007 171

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2014

Unfortunately for the hunters these were already all extinct, and with the introduction of cats, rats, stoats and the like the only upland game bird, the New Zealand Quail , was fast on the way out too. Using ministerial connections he obtained 100 mallard eggs from the US and began to breed and distribute them.

Species 185

Species New Zealand Ducks Game 185

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2022

When going to Australia, one of the two birds I wanted to see most was the Tawny Frogmouth. When these birds breed, this can lead to highly cringeworthy announcements, for example from Adelaide Zoo : “We have egg-citing news!” It seems that quite a few zoos keep Tawny Frogmouths. ” ( source ).

Birds 264

Birds Australia Ducks Mountain Goats 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2018

One of our male Pied Oystercatchers has been marked with an engraved leg flag “A1” and was one of the first pairs to lay eggs this season. Sadly the two chicks did not survive very long at all and the pair of Pied Oystercatchers were soon getting ready to lay more eggs. “A1” Preparing another nest site.

Eggs 131

Eggs Feral Cats Feral Raised 131

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

Let us for once judge a book by its cover, and take a thorough look at a Black-headed Gull in breeding plumage. How do I know of their Gothic moods when they have hidden them so well in an egg-white shell of conformity? Cats Are Still Public Enemy Number One, For Birds The New York Times and Tweety have it absolutely correct.

2011 198

2011 Birds Deer Europe 198

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2011

We monitor the Pied Oystercatchers breeding along a 23km stretch of beach each year and it can all be covered on foot or by bicycle-tide dependant! They usually have their first eggs in place by the first week in July each year and they sit on them for 28 days. Below is a Google Earth image of the 23kms stretch of beach that we cover.

Breeding 205

Breeding Feral Cats Eggs Feral 205

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Australia is a vast country with a very small human population, which mostly clings to the edge of the continent. Even the first explorers to Australia documented there was a risk of extinction of birds and animals into the future and subsequently decided to collect as many specimens as possible! Preface,p.xxiv.

Species 189

Species Australia Birds Parrots 189

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2011

As I watched, it slowly moved into a patch of dried vegetation and I noticed that it was settling over a single egg. Two or three eggs may be laid and either bird may incubate. They are most active at night and make eerie nocturnal calls which have cemented their place in many folklore tales from Africa to Australia.

2011 203

2011 Deer Africa Peru 203