As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Sunday 6 July 2014

Shorebirds return to nesting grounds

BY MIRIAH HAMRICK ON JULY 2, 2014 - 10:08 PMNEWS


Shorebird nesting season on Wrightsville Beach is unfolding more successfully than expected, given disturbances at the bird sanctuaries located on both the north and sound ends of the island.

Lindsay Addison, coastal biologist with Audubon North Carolina, said four shorebird species are actively nesting on the south end.

Black skimmer chicks began hatching the first week of June. Audubon will count the chicks after they fledge in early and mid July. Two pairs of oystercatchers yielded one chick each and two pairs of common terns are nesting again after they lost their first chicks to fire ants.

Addison said fire ants are attracted to egg white stuck on the chicks immediately after they hatch, and since ants are natural residents of the dune system, bird volunteers can only react to harm inflicted by the ants.

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