The islands of Lough Ree are crucial sites for ground-nesting birds, as the surrounding water significantly reduces the risk of nest and chick predation by mammals.

These stunning Oystercatchers, with their striking black and white plumage, vibrant red bills, and bright red eyes, have chosen one of these islands as their nesting site. Really excitingly the birds are nesting in habitat created by scrub removal over the Winter. This shows the value of habitat restoration and enhancement for breeding waders.

Daily highlight clips of two seperate nesting grounds,  show the dedicated parent Oystercatcher take turns incubating their eggs, ensuring they are kept at the right temperature, 24 hours a day for approximately 28 days.  Once hatched the chicks will be protected by their parents until they fledge, typically between 35 and 40 days after hatching. With up to 68 days on the ground, these birds and their chicks are very vulnerable.

Our experienced, and fully licensed, Ornithologists have carefully placed a camera at the nesting site to monitor their progress. We will keep you updated throughout the weeks on their progress.

Interesting Facts– Unusually for Waders, Oystercatcher chicks, as well as feeding independently, are provisioned by their parents. All Waders are ‘precocial’, which means they leave their nest as soon as they hatch, and another term for this is ‘nidifugous’, which is a lovely word derived from Latin, meaning something like ‘flee the nest’!!

Check out our YouTube channel to see the daily highlights and track the progress of these beautiful birds.