There were large but widely dispersed numbers of both variable oystercatcher and pied oystercatcher on Ashley Estuary this day.
The flocks were mixed but variables, both black and various pied phases, were prominent. I observed several birds that were in the mottled phase between pure black and classically pied.
I suspect breeding was underway nearby as while I was belly crawling across the mud trying to get close to godwit, the oystercatchers literally run up to me in large numbers making a great fuss and some performing broken wing distraction displays as shown in one of these pictures.