Ann and I had a pleasant walk yesterday which took in a short section of the Offa's Dyke Path along the banks of the Severn. It was a beautiful afternoon, and there was plenty to see - and to hear. We were able to draw quite close to an oystercatcher, prospecting for worms and other invertebrates at the top of the bank. It eventually did fly, calling shrilly as it did so. We followed along the path, and - having paused to search for a drake goosander we'd noticed flying in - were startled by a sudden burst of what one can only describe as oystercatcher swear-words! All was explained as we saw three oystercatchers fly up from a point some distance away on the opposite bank. The one we'd flushed earlier had clearly met up with a pair, and the conversation between them was a fierce one. The three birds flew high over the trees being very noisy, and then, after some aerial jostling, the pair flew together back to "their" place on the bank, while the solo bird disappeared upriver.
Observing probably the same three birds a week or two back, at Llyn Coed y Dinas, I was struck by the behaviour of the pair when the solo bird arrived to join them on an island. They were, again, quite noisy, and moved side by side and in step around the island with heads down so that their long bills were pointing straight downwards. This presumably demonstrated their commitment to each other; certainly, it was an aggressive enough response to unsettle the third bird, which seemed to flinch away from this activity before flying off.
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