One of the many things we did while on vacation in BC was look for new lens friends. And we weren’t disappointed. One of the first things we noticed was that long orange beak, something we hadn’t seen on a bird before. We were visiting Wiffin Spit, by Sooke, British Columbia, Canada when we spotted the black oystercatcher.
Oystercatchers belong to a group of wading birds and are about the size of the crow. This species is found on the west coast of North America.
Look at those long pinkish legs and feet and just look at that long reddish beak. And what about those eyes!
We only saw one making its way along the stony shore of the Pacific Ocean, and every now and then he would stop and peck down into the rocks. This shorebird never goes far from the rocky shore. It also prefers shores that are more sheltered than those open directly to the ocean. Whiffin Spit is a sheltered inlet.
We have no idea if it was catching oysters but it did seem to like what it found. They do eat oysters but also eat limpet, snails and clams. We were thrilled be able to check this off our birding list. This bird was spotted on our November 2011 trip.
