Oystercatcher Update

I've just returned from the smoky-hole having finally caught sight of two baby oystercatchers being shepherded around the roof by a pair of very anxious adults. This must be the second attempt at raising offspring this year, as I'm certain the first lot that hatched got nabbed by gulls.

Of course, now I know they're there, this will mean double the usual amount of trips up the corridor to the smoky-hole, just to sentimentally gaze upon the wee beaky ones, and check their progress. And the stress of worrying about those bloodthirsty gulls will undoubtedly mean I'll be obliged to smoke twice as much as well.

I'm now girding my loins to prepare for that inevitable day when I scan the roof in vain and am forced to come to terms with the reality that the wee souls have been massacred. Last summer was very emotional for me, particularly when the bereft mother bird spent days k'beaking round the roof in a fruitless search for her missing babies, in a very distressed state. Believe me, nothing looks more dejected than a bereaved oystercatcher.