Oyster Catcher

Oyster Catchers – (Haematopus bachmani) are fun birds to watch on the cliffs.  They are Jon’s favorite shore bird. We love to spot the long dark red bill and red eye liner.   These little guys feed on limpets, which we called china hats as kids. They pry them of of the dark rocks.  With their dark black bodies, they are hard to photograph. This morning we came around a cliff and one was sitting right there in front of us just staring – not moving – even long enough to get a photograph.  She flew off to the rocks further out in the surf when her mate called her over. Their call is a beautiful whistling sound.  There is a clip of their calls here. The chirp Chirp at first is one bird, then the whistling song at the end was what called the bird over to the rock.  Really amazing!