Wildlife & Nature

In a nutshell: the oystercatcher

For me, the calls of oystercatchers are so evocative of the beautiful shores of western Scotland and the islands.

I was delighted to discover that their name in Gaelic is ‘Gille-brìghde’, meaning the page or servant of Bride.  Bride, in this instance, is St Brigit, but her roots are entwined with a much older, pagan goddess of the same name, whose festival at Imbolc (1st February) welcomed the return of lighter days after the darkness of winter.  St Brigit is said to have called wild birds to her hand, and in rough weather she sent them to guide sailors to safety.

An old folk tradition, confirmed by recent observations, says that oystercatchers always return to the straths (river valleys) from the seashore around St Valentine’s Day, in order to begin pairing and nesting.

Photo copyright © Colin Woolf

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