American Oystercatchers
A pair of American Oystercatchers welcomed us to the beach on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, on a warm, sunny morning in mid March – a brief spring-break trip to the coast. They flew in close to where we were walking, announcing their arrival with lots of loud, clear, insistent whistles of queep-queep-queep-queedit-queedit that stood out as boldly as their colorful appearance.
The beach felt peaceful and quiet, with a big blue sky, wide stretch of sand, the tide about halfway in, a scattering of people, and the cushioning sound of the surf and the cries of gulls. Forster’s Terns – many of them – fluttered over the waves and flashed white in the sunlight, and Brown Pelicans sailed over the water further out. A few gray Willets waded in the rippled edge of the waves, and Ring-billed Gulls and Laughing Gulls flew over.
In one spot where the tide seemed to be coming in over a sandbar or maybe between two sandbars, a long pool of water had formed, and there must have been a good many fish trapped there. At least ten or fifteen Forster’s Terns were hovering, flickering, white and graceful, close together, low over the water and diving repeatedly here, strung out along the length of the pool. There were other shorebirds in this area, too – Willets, gulls probably, and maybe some sandpipers – but I was so fascinated by the terns that later I couldn’t remember for sure what else had been there. Some of the terns seemed to dive many times before catching a fish, even in such an easy spot.