Sometimes you will also see them feeding on wet grasslands near the coast where they eat earthworms. It is 40–45 cm (16–18 in) long, the bill accounting for 8–9 cm (3–3 ⁄2 in), and has a wingspan of 80–85 cm (31–33 in). Follow writer and photographer, Anthony Hickey, as he travels around his native Co. Mayo, Ireland. Despite its name, oysters do not form a large part of its diet. “This poem is a fairly straightforward visual report on its title, the birds being a common sight on the coastline I live beside in Connemara. Oystercatchers in Flight - Sea's stony greenblue shatters to white. They are obvious and noisy plover-like birds, with black and white plumage, red legs and strong broad red bills used for smashing or prising open molluscs such as mussels or for finding earthworms. Oystercatchers are easy to identify with their with their long orange-red bill, black head, chest and upperparts, white underparts and reddish-pink legs. An oystercatcher takes flight near Virginia’s barrier islands on the Eastern Shore. All text and photographs are copyright and cannot be reproduced without permission. Sea’s stony greenblue shatters to white in a running swell under noonsky of cloudlightwhere on a foamed-over cropping of rock a band of oystercatchers faces all one wayinto a nor’wester so shafts of windlight ignite each orange beak in this abidingtribe of black till you clap and their risen black turns white as they veronica on wind andthen away with them (shrill-pitched as frighted plovers only harsher more excited)and riding the stiff wind like eager lovers straining into its every last whim: its pulsing steadyheart-push in every flesh-startling open-eyed long-extended deepening sea-breath. Kilcummin, the Moy estuary, and the many beaches of The Mullet peninsula are among my favourite locations in Mayo for watching Oystercacthers. If you are lucky enough to visit the Inishkea Islands you will see lots of Oystercatchers. Copyright © 2015 by Eamon Grennan. Find the perfect oystercatchers in flight stock photo. The oystercatcher is one of the largest waders in the region. The lovers’ metaphor intends, I guess, a broadening or deepening of the natural facts. The Oystercatcher is one of our most common waders and can be seen all around the Mayo coastline. A Dublin native, Eamon Grennan is the author of several poetry collections, including Still Life with Waterfall, which was awarded the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. Kilcummin, the Moy estuary, and the many beaches of The Mullet peninsula are among my favourite locations in … Oystercatchers in flight. The absence of punctuation is a strategy to suggest the long-breath continuity and interconnectedness of things. I sought a contrast between their ‘abiding’ and the speed and dash of their taking off, their going. The Oystercatcher is one of our most common waders and can be seen all around the Mayo coastline. The bird still lives up to its name, as few if any other wading birds are capable of … A good time to spot Oystercatchers is at low tide when you will see the birds foraging for mussels and cockles between the rocks on the seashore. Huge collection, amazing choice, 100+ million high quality, affordable RF and RM images. (Courtesy of Cindy Hamilton) (Whiteman, Clyde / HANDOUT) Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 18, 2015, by the Academy of American Poets. Copyright MAYO.ME 2010-2020. The piece is from a coming collection.”—Eamon Grennan, © Academy of American Poets, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038. No need to register, buy now! Flying in groups close to the water just off shore, Oystercatchers’ distinctive whistle-like call sounds like ‘plee-ah plee-ah’. by Anthony Hickey Leave a Comment. All Rights Reserved.