Nothing like a good strrrretch
The continuing saga of the Long Beach Oystercatchers:
Nest at Lindell Blvd. Eggs hatch 24 to 27 days. These were laid end of May
If you haven’t been following, see first post:https://leebythesea.me/2015/05/27/the-fragile-and-the-furious/
Followed by: https://leebythesea.me/2015/05/31/so-fragile-so-precious/
Sunday I went to check on the sweet chicks that frequent our Long Beach sands, and the shore bird chicks as well. ( CBS, maybe me, after Colbert?)
The remaining chick of the Magnolia hatching is pretty big now, about-pigeon sized I’d guess, so I think it’s less vulnerable to an attack-threat from the gulls these days:
The Lindell nest, just eggs, is still okay. Maybe the hatching will happen near the end of June? The cones are still in place and doing their job of keeping the human shore denizens at bay.
One young couple was tossing a frisbee when, yup, it flew into the danger zone. A real challenge.
After a brief conversation the young man made a valiant attempt to retrieve the disc but Mom would have none of it and charged him…as expected.
I yelled down to him, “She’s going to kick your ass!” Pretty subtle warning, I know but it worked.
He had another brief chat with his girlfriend and they decided to let the friz be, so to speak. Wise move.
He was the hero of the boardwalk oystercatcher enthusiasts by letting it just be, and made no small amount of points with his lady too, I’m sure.
So there the disc sat with nobody willing to disturb the cone settlers.
A Lifeguard came near it and I believe he was trying to call in some close 
air support for help. But I think he’d need Seal Team 6 to make a successful extraction here.
But while I was checking out the Magnolia drama someone did actually retrieve the errant frisbee.
When I returned it was gone from the cone area and I saw both mom and pop out near the surf chasing off another Oystercatcher adult.
The frisbee was no doubt retrieved while that chase went on.
Don’t know what that same-breed interloper was after, an egg attack? But he wasn’t successful
Yet another invader was driven off though. And so it continues.
Here’s a video of the Magnolia Beach Maintenance man, Vincent, trying to put the cones up while under attack.
Courtesy, Ilene Schuss:
Be well,
Leebythesea
You can visit my archives, right column, for last year’s oystercatcher posts, “Size Matters” and “Size Still Matters.” See May and June, 2014
Categories: bird watching, Birds
leebythesea 