Clearly, it’s a big celebration for Plover Park’s AMOY (American Oystercatcher) Pair 1.
We call them Pair 1 because, in NestStory, we number the pairs in the order that their nests are found.
So, the more clever of you might be wondering, if these oystercatchers are Pair 1 and had the first nest, why did other nests hatch before them, as evidenced by the fact that this is reading is called Evidence of Hatch 2, not Evidence of Hatch?
Because, in NestStory, we also code the nest attempt using a letter. This nest is their second, or “B” attempt. So we call this Nest 1B.
That’s why earlier this spring I asked for your help when I found their first, Nest 1A, eaten by fox. We just couldn’t let them have another loser season.
Thanks to you, we were able to give them the full flasher treatment, and were careful to keep the fox, and the coyote, on their toes around this nest to help see it through to this special moment!
Even though this pair is unbanded, I’m pretty sure we know these birds and that they’ve been with us for four seasons now. They have a very particular habitat, very particular habits, and usually are the first pair to nest.
They are loud, bossy, paranoid, and obnoxious, and they absolutely hate me. But I love them anyway and could not be happier that they will be screaming at me for the rest of the summer if I even look at Plover Park, and will go to every extreme to make sure I can never see and count their babies.
And that’s OK with me.
Say something kind