Egg thief caught in the act at Venus Pools!!

The commotion from the shingle covered island alerted me to the antics of the Little ringed plover, who had until that point been sitting tight on the nest scrape. Until, for what ever reason, the Oyster catcher chased her / him of off the scrape. The ensuing kerfuffle presented some unique photo opportunities.Egg one leaves the nest!

Which was enjoyed straight away.Until the parent bird decided her limp wristed distraction display was having little or no distraction what so ever. But she was persistent, to the point where the Oystercatcher decided to give chase.

Which at times came close to the Plover ending up in the large red beak!

And so the chase continued, the same procedure at the eating of each egg. At one point the goings on brought all four Little ringed plovers to the fray, with at least two joining the onslaught. Once the dastardly deed was complete there was a little bitching at the Oik, The Plovers gathered on the next island and there was a load of calling and running around as if they were commiserating with the parents of the lost brood to be. Sadly the cage had not been put in place to prevent this sort of predation on either of the two scrapes.

Son of egg thief?
The final picture so far done, struck me as funny "bloody rain, just had my hair done."

There will be more in this sequence.

Paul