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American Oystercatcher, Common Tern, Piping Plover adult,
and immature Herring Gull |
An area of beach was roped off so the Piping Plovers and their chicks could run down from the dunes to the beach to get food from the water's edge. Even the adults are barely visible from behind the barriers because they are so small.
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Piping Plover chick
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The American Oystercatchers also benefit from the protected area. However their chicks will get fed by the adults, so they won't have to make the trek to the water until they are older.
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| An American Oystercatcher sat on a nest in the protected area |
- The oystercatcher parents take turns on the nest, doing a quick turnover.
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Oystercatcher parents switch off so they both have a chance to go get food.
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But the non-sitting oystercatcher parent also keeps watch for danger. When a Great Black-Backed Gull passed over and got too close, one of the oystercatchers flew up and chased after it, apparently thinking it might be a threat to the eggs.
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Great Black-backed Gull
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Interestingly, the oystercatchers didn't seem afraid of the herring gulls foraging along the shoreline.
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| An immature Herring Gull ate mussels washed up on the beach |
Or concerned about the smaller Laughing Gulls gathering around on the open beach area.
Several Common Terns took advantage of the unpopulated beach area to do some fishing, although they were not nesting there.
And an Osprey also flew over, heading further out to sea to do its fishing. Ospreys nest nearby in Jamaica Bay
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