Wednesday saw an insurgence of State Police with scuba divers searching the inlet for underwater debris. And Thursday morning, when all should have been quiet and returning to normal, there was another of Ed's famous text messages: "We have a situation."
Ed informed me: "One of our Oystercatchers has gotten tangled in fishing line and is limping badly with a bloody leg. The fishing line needs to be removed."
Tom's Oystercatcher decoy at work attracting our pair. |
A call to Tom Virzi, who I fondly call "The Oystercatcherman," was imperative.
Tom agreed to come and try snaring the Oystercatcher with his decoy. It was a rather drawn out ordeal, it got cold, and those Oystercatchers were s-t-u-b-b-o-r-n! Eventually we snared the female - no fishing line on her, but Tom weighed her, measured her, and banded her so we can follow her.
Tom set the decoy again and this time we were lucky and snared our tangled injured friend.
Did you realize that Oystercatchers have black toe nails? |
Tom carefully removed the fishing line and gave our friend a thorough check.
Poor Tom, I insisted he check this wing, then that wing, then this leg, and that one.... "What about under there?"..."Is that more blood?"....
"Did you check his back for any hidden line?"...."What's that mark there?"
Sara holds the male while Tom clips and measures. |
Tom and Nancy with the female....it's amazing how calm they are once in captivity. Must be Tom's good karma! |
Our male Oystercatcher appears to be in good shape now and should recover quickly.
The male has one silver band and the female has three bands.
Thank you, Tom, for your patience and for caring about our Oystercatcher and all the other Oystercatchers you care for. We couldn't have done it without you.
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First Tern Chick of the 2010 Season
The reason we keep coming back......