Whats Down There?

Blipmate and I explored a coastal track today then stopped off at a nearby beach.

The tide was out and  there was an oyster catcher striding along the waters edge (see extra). He hopped up onto some rocks and not seeing any oysters, he proceeded to attack the thousands of tiny mussels growing there. He didn't seem at all worried when I climbed onto nearby rocks with my camera and just carried on investigating the tiny shellfish.  These  rocks are covered at full tide so I suppose he was making the most of his opportunity.

This is the Variable Oyster catcher and is only found in New Zealand. It is the only oyster catcher in the world to have  varying plumage forms and comes in 3 colour types - all black, pied and an intermediate colour that is a hybrid of the other two. The Maori name for the bird is Torea .