Oystercatchers in Residence - Mandurah Marina

Each day when I head to the marina clubhouse early in the morning, there's an oystercatcher on the porch near the door. His mate is usually down on the beach. I thought he was scrounging for food, but found that he was instead defending his territory against another, rather handsome oystercatcher, that seemed to be following his every move.  

This the very same oystercatcher couple that was in residence when I left in May and I was surprised to see them still here and figured I'd better learn a bit more about them since I chat with this fellow every morning.

First of all, the name “oystercatcher” seems to be a misnomer as they don't usually dine on oysters at all. It seems an American chap, Mark Catesby, coined the term oystercatcher in 1731 and it became the preferred name. The previous name was “sea pie” … I think oystercatcher is an improvement. Anyhow, though oystercatchers are found pretty much worldwide around coastal areas, the pied oystercatcher (pied usually translates to sharp contrasting black and white coloration) found here is native specifically to Australia.

These birds are so distinctive looking that it's hard to ignore them if you see them. About the size of a pigeon, their black/white feather combination is striking. They have dark eyes with bright orange/red eye rings and a matching, particularly long, orange bill which they use for smashing and prying open mollusks, their preferred diet. Long pink legs, good for wading, complete the picture.

This species is monogamous and very territorial. I watched as a gull came close to the female. She “pleep, pleep, pleeped” a few times and before you know it, the male was at her side warning off the gull who seemed rather nonchalant and unbothered about the whole episode.

I like to watch them when they're wading. When they're not looking for a snack, they usually rest on one leg for indefinite periods of time. Great balance.

I spotted a speckled egg just laying in a small indentation in the sand midst weeds and debris and thought it couldn't possibly be the nest, but it was.

It appears that oystercatchers in the northern hemisphere lay three eggs on average in a clutch, but the oystercatchers down under are more likely to lay only two, although this couple seems to have only one at the moment. It's the wrong season for eggs and nesting, but there's definitely an egg there and from time to time, one of the birds seems to be tending to it. Perhaps, they've got their seasons mixed up.

Long Walks and Galahs in Mandurah

 

We're thrilled to be back aboard Nine of Cups and back in Australia … also fondly known as Oz (as in AUS...tralia). We saw some kangaroos grazing in a field on our way back from the airport. There's no mistaking it … we're in the land down under again.

We were walking to Bunnings, the local hardware store the other day (think Lowes or Home Depot), along the beach road. The walk is long (2-3 miles one way), but it's quite scenic when you stick to the side roads. We chatted amiably as we ambled along. It's good getting into the habit of walking again instead of jumping in the car for every errand.

En route, we came upon a tree teeming with galahs. That's pronounced ga-LAH. We've seen them many times before, but never tire of them. They're gregarious pink and gray cockatoos that are lovely to see and fun to watch. They're a bit cheeky. They travel in great flocks and there's never any doubt where they are as they're never quiet. Like most parrots, they're screechers and they find it hard to keep to themselves.

In Aussie-speak, calling someone a galah can be a rather derogatory slur … it's calling them a loud mouth or a big fool. In more endearing terms, we've heard people call each other “you big galah”… kind of like “you, dumbell”. I guess that's no worse than telling someone they're “crazy as a loon” or referring to them as a turkey. Poor birds take a lot of bad mouthing.

Of Dragons and Damsels

Yes, I'm into bugs again: dragonflies and damselflies. According to Smithsonian Magazine, dragonflies were some of the first winged insects to evolve, some 300 million years ago. Modern dragonflies have wingspans of only two to five inches, but fossil dragonflies have been found with wingspans of up to two feet. I'm thinking I wouldn't have liked them then. There are distinct differences between dragonflies and damselflies, by the way. I only learned the difference a few years ago.  

Believe it or not, there are several books and websites specific to the topic of dragonflies and damselflies. I don't know why I'm surprised … there are books and websites out there on every topic imaginable. Though I appreciate the grace, alacrity and sheer beauty of these critters, I never really thought someone could dedicate their life to studying and photographing them. I figure just dedicating a whole blog post to them is pretty bizarre. Moving on … The basic differences, I learned, were that dragonflies are stockier, have dissimilar wing pairs and their wings are usually held open or horizontal when at rest. With these criteria, it was pretty easy to tell the two apart. And then, of course, my identification-itis set in.

When I was in New England recently and spent so much time at Bird Park, I had a great opportunity to photograph some dragonflies and damselflies. Sometimes they seem to light forever … good photographic subjects. Other times, they're fidgety and flit around so much, photos aren't possible. The grasses along the duck ponds at Bird Park were the best viewing site in early morning and evening. The great thing about digital cameras is you can take a thousand pix and choose only a couple that are the best. Nothing lost.

There are more than 5,000 known species of dragonflies, all of which (along with damselflies) belong to the order Odonata, which means “toothed one” in Greek and refers to its serrated teeth. The fact they have teeth is interesting in itself. Dragonflies, though not harmful to man, are predators to other insects. In fact, a single adult dragonfly can eat 30 to 100+ mosquitoes per day. They're expert fliers with the ability to fly straight up and down, hover like a helicopter and even mate in mid-air. If they can’t fly, they’ll starve because they only eat prey they catch while flying.

The males are territorial and quite aggressive in both protecting their territory as well as mating. I read a National Geographic article and it sounds as if dragonfly courtship is not very romantic. Males and females, by the way, are many times dimorphic, i.e., they don't look alike. Take the ebony jewelwings, for instance.

Now that I'm in Las Vegas, you'd think dragonflies would be scarce. In the desert, they are. Here on the east side of town near the Clark County Wetlands Park though, there are scads of them. Once again, early morning and dusk are the best time for viewing, but what a show.

A dragonfly called the globe skinner has the longest migration of any insect—11,000 miles back and forth across the Indian Ocean. We'll be on the lookout for this one when we cross the Indian.

By the way, I used to be afraid of dragonflies … we called them sewing needles or darning needles when I was a kid. The local legend warned that if a dragonfly landed on you, it would sew your lips shut. I'm quite a talker, so you can see that if the myth was true, it really would have affected my style.