Today we checked back again and found a visiting Swiss family right at the base of the Oystercatcher nesting rock. We waited patiently for the three young boys to climb all over the neighboring rocks but fortunately they didn't disturb the nesting. The male and female didn't call attention to themselves by changing nesting duties or doing any of their typical loud calling.
We got a nice sequence from a slightly different angle and today we were able to see the eggs more clearly. We start with one of the nesting pair on the nest which was adandoned for a short time. The mate apparently didn't respond so the original nest "sitter" went back "on duty" until the family moved on. This first shot is just before the eggs were exposed.
The eggs were unattended only briefly.
The "sitter" went to the top of the nearby rock and called only once - got no reply and resumed the nesting duty. Nice Pose at the top of the rock.
Getting settled back onto the eggs - very carefully - this time for about 40 minutes.
Finally the mate arrives. The family were standing near me and I briefed them on the exchange of nesting duties that was about the happen.
And not to be disappointed, the nesting pair exchanged positions.
Finally we left with another nice pose. We will check often to see how thy are doing. By our count, the hatching could take almost two more weeks. We read that gestation can be from 24 to 28 days. We make this about day 10 so far.
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