I was standing on the beach in mid-December when I saw this oystercatcher fly right in front of me.
He was coming in for a landing on the beach.
Screaming the entire time.
I think he was just yelling for his mate to come over and join him.
He was looking for a good spot to look for food.
Which happened to be right in front of me so I sat down on the sand and watched for a few minutes.
He was picking through the seaweed and shells on the beach. I noticed the ring around his leg.
Back in April 2013, this oystercatcher had fishing line wrapped around his leg. The leg was swollen and it took several days for the rangers to catch him and take the line off. He would have lost that leg or worse if he hadn’t been caught in time. He still has the scar and is easy to spot if you can see his leg. He still shows up occasionally with his mate.
Such a beautiful bird.
His mate was keeping an eye on me.
I sat for while and watched them look for food. They slowly made their way down the beach and I left. I’ll always be on the look out for him.
Beautiful portraits of this survivor! They are such a handsome bird. Fishing lines wreak havoc among bird populations — so sad. I am glad this one was rehabilitated. (and it makes me smile to think his mate apparently waited for him to get out of the hospital!).
Lucky for him there are caring beach-apes willing to go out of their way. I’ve seen so many birds tangled. Breaks my heart.
These boids ARE so beautiful.
I’ve also seen a duck in a really bad situation with fishing leader wrapped around its leg. I’m more mad than sad, I try to gather up discarded leader when I can. I’m glad to see this lovely bird got help. That female can really give you the stink eye with those orange-rimmed eyes!