Welcome back to the Oystercatcher Diaries! This is the first entry for the 2025 season, and this season started with a bang. We’re already up to 13 nests!

We had a late start to our monitoring this year, but Sue, volunteers Alan and John, and ABC biologist Sarah headed out to Galveston Bay the end of February.  We also had Rebecca, Caleb, and Coley, GCBO staff and intern, out on the water recently as well.  I think we all knew we were going to have a bunch of nests on the ground, and we were right! The crew headed up into Galveston Bay and towards Swan Lake. The first pair of the day, C2A and unbanded, were found just out in the bay from the Tiki Island Channel. No nest there, but they did look like they were up to something.

Up along Scenic Galveston, at Zimmerman and Virginia Points, the crew found 20 and unbanded hanging out behind the breakwater the first week, but up on their island the second week. Sue suspects they have a nest, but it was too windy last week to beach the boat and take a look. No sign of LR and unbanded either week, but they could still show up.

In Swan Lake, 11 and unbanded were not bothered by our presence either week, and were on the reefs foraging, so no nest for them yet. But K7 and unbanded had a nest! Their nest had 3 eggs, but hadn’t been there for too long when it was found. Not too much activity around the rest of Swan Lake, but there is a new unbanded pair hanging out at the north end.

Back in West Galveston Bay, on Struve, there has been a lot of activity. In partnership with Audubon Texas, we have new cameras up to monitor the Black Skimmers when they arrive. Hopefully the cameras, and new signs, will discourage people from landing on this island. Huge thanks to Caleb, Trey with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Dennis and Tim from Audubon Texas for getting the cameras installed!

There are 4 pairs still on Struve (down one from last year). E5A and unbanded had a nest with 3 eggs, 12 and unbanded had a nest with 1 egg, LT and JA had a nest with 3 eggs, and YK and unbanded had a nest with 3 eggs. YK and mate must have started first this year, as their eggs will be hatching any day now! Sadly, 12 and unbanded’s nest already failed; we heard from our local volunteers that the tide went up pretty high and likely overwashed it. Hopefully they’ll try again soon.

On Jigsaw, we are down to only 1 pair! That island has really been under a lot of stress recently from all the storms last year. The pair, X2 and YE, do not have a nest yet. From there, our crew always peruses the shoreline on Galveston island to check for foraging and nesting pairs. Amazingly, W8W and unbanded were there, and had a nest! Fingers crossed their nest makes it; lots of potential predators on the island unfortunately.

Over in Gangs Bayou, C8A and unbanded, and A4A and unbanded, have been hanging around. We suspect A4A and unbanded have a nest, but the tide was too low to get in there to check last week. ON the to-do list for this week!

Over on South Deer, most of the pairs are back. One pair is new this year though, X5Y and unbanded. We found a nest for A1A and unbanded, which is great because they’re super sneaky. A5A and unbanded are also incubating eggs already. X5Y and unbanded were found foraging on the reefs around the island. But the final pair, F1A and E2A, had a nest with 1 egg this past week!

On North Deer, we might be back up to 3 pairs. C1A and unbanded have a nest with 3 eggs. YM and E8A also have a nest with 3 eggs. The new pair, Y7Y and unbanded, have only been spotted out on the reefs, so no nest for them yet.

On Marker 52, we were sad to find that UF has been replaced by an unbanded female, which means J6 has a new mate. We haven’t found a nest for them yet, but they weren’t spotted last week, so they could be hiding on the backside of Marker 52 as usual. JJ and his unbanded mate, and JC and unbanded, were foraging on the reefs, so no nests there either.

On to the end of Marker 52 and the larger Tiki Spoil island. It appears that FR and unbanded have moved! We keep seeing him on the rock wall/breakwater on the edge of the new island. Last week, we found 1 egg that we think is there’s but it wasn’t in a scrape. We’ll check again this week to confirm.

Y2 and W1W are still on the island as well, but they have been foraging on the reefs when we’ve spotted them. No nesting activity there yet. The remaining pair, E4A and X3Y, have some scrapes but no eggs yet.

Over in East Matagorda Bay, LF has a new mate. Sadly, M4, one of our oldest females (banded as a breeding bird in 2011! Which means she was likely at least 16 years old last year!) is no longer there. But the new pairing has a new nest, which we found with 1 egg in it.

Around the bay, we found that F8A is gone, so there’s an unbanded pair there. We found E9A and unbanded foraging along the intracoastal waterway, so no nest for them. Surprisingly, 25 and unbanded didn’t have a nest yet! Normally they have started by now, but maybe they’ll have a nest next time.

If you like oystercatchers and you want to support this project, you can make a donation (thank you!) on our website here. And how could anyone not like oystercatchers! You can also adopt a pair of oystercatchers to support this project if you’d like. If you adopt a pair, you will receive an adoption certificate for your birds and I will update you monthly on their progress throughout the breeding season. All adoption funds will be used to fund our work for the oystercatchers.

Current Stats for upper Texas coast from Swan Lake to East Matagorda Bay: 13 nests being incubated, 1 failed nest, 0 nests with unfledged chicks, 0 nest with undetermined status, 0 chicks fledged

Note: All trapping and banding for this project is in accordance with federal and state permits issued to Rebecca Bracken, GCBO Conservation Research Director. Bird handling by volunteers is only permitted in the presence of Rebecca Bracken or Susan Heath and volunteers are trained in proper bird handling techniques.