Oystercatchers


	A FIRST BERKSHIRE BREEDING RECORD

	There have been many more sightings of Oystercatchers in Berkshire in 2010 than is normally the case. Signs of potential breeding activity were seen in at least two areas and breeding was finally proved on 21 May when Roger Stansfield and Ken Moore spotted a pair with a brood of four chicks on an island on Theale Main Pit. Oystercatchers are not common breeding birds on the coasts of south east England and inland breeders are very uncommon throughout southern England, although they have been gradually spreading south through the Midlands. The first June record in Berkshire was as recent as 1986 and since that time they have become commoner throughout the year. The vast majority of birds are seen during migration periods when they generally appear in ones and twos and normally only stay for a few days at a time. Breeding season records are still not common and this is the first year that there has been any real suspicion that breeding might take place. Thanks to the kind assistance of Pat Forbes, the Manager of Burghfield Sailing Club, a small party were able to visit the island on Wednesday 26 May. All four chicks were still present, although we only saw three as we approached the island and all looked fit and healthy. The birds were generally keeping to the island shores and the chicks were being well guarded by the adult birds. Two of the chicks were caught and ringed but despite careful searching the others couldn't be found. The chicks were seen back with the parents within a few minutes of us leaving the island, and all four were seen the following day and the brood was still complete on 2 June.

Oystercatcher_Main_Pit_Theale_26May2010_05B

Very few Oystercatcher chicks have been ringed inland in southern England, the following figures were abstracted from the BTO web site:

	Chicks Ringed
	2009	2008	2007	2006
Bedfordshire	0	1	2	3
Berkshire	0	0	0	0
Buckinghamshire	0	2	0	0
Greater London	0	0	0	0
Hertfordshire	0	0	0	0
Northamptonshire	0	0	0	0
Oxfordshire	0	0	0	0
Surrey	0	0	0	0
Wiltshire	0	0	0	0
Inland SE England Total	0	3	2	3
England Total	57	69	398	49

This means there is little if any real information on where the birds are originating. Are inland breeders spreading from other inland populations or from the coast? How much interaction is there between the populations? It could be a long time before these individuals contribute to that pool of knowledge as Oystercatchers are long-lived birds.

One interesting ringing recovery we are aware of was a bird ringed as a chick in Northumberland in June 1993 and retrapped wintering on the Kent coast in December 2006 when it was well over 13 years old. The longest lived bird from British ringing was a bird ringed as juvenile in 1969 and found dead in Norway in 2006, 36 years and 8 months later.


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