Though I had never seen this bird before, I have seen it from time to time on the UK bird ID Facebook group I'm in, as people were posting to ask for ID help. They're not hard to remember, being a striking black and white with a long, bright orange beak. They were all over the island. The only photos I had ever seen of oystercatchers have always been as shorebirds, on the edge of water so that they can find food, so it was surprising to find so many of them "inland," not on some sort of beach or shore. I guess they also nest at Skomer Island. When I was reading my field guide afterward, I learned that they are also an at-risk species in the UK. They have lower numbers than normal, although my field guide says that the numbers are at least currently stable, which is always better than being on the decline. I was only able to get one good shot of one, but I'm always happy to get one shot rather than none at all. I think they're quite a handsome bird; don't you?
Update August 5, 2023: While visiting the Shetlands, I was able to get a ton of stellar shots of these guys. Due to the storage limits now on Wix, I won't be able to share an album sadly, but I can copy and paste a couple of good ones :)
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