Meet L'Amoy! A.K.A. Little American Oystercatcher – named by Bird Steward intern Christina Frank.

Early this summer a couple of American Oystercatchers nested on the sandy beach of Huguenot Memorial Park in Jacksonville and fledged the first AMOY chick  reported there since 2006! The pair was reacting positively to a pre-posted area, a section of the upper beach cordoned off early in the nesting season so the birds could initiate nesting protected from disturbances.

Pre-posting is a beach-nesting bird management measure that Audubon and its partners in the Florida Shorebird Alliance promote and we are encouraged to see the restoration of the species to the diversity of the beautiful and important park.

This photo, from July 2013, shows L’AMOY with newly fitted bands that could help us track the young bird. L’Amoy was last seen about a month ago hanging out with the adults on the beach at Little Talbot State Park. So, next time your visiting the area, be on the lookout for the oystercatcher with red band 30, a very special chick!

 Thanks to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation's Florida Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) biologists for banding L'AMOY, so that we can hopefully track its future survival.