Legends of the saint in Scotland and England... For Sunday Miscellany on RTÉ Radio 1, listen to the Oystercatcher & St Brigit by Jenny Beale above.
The distinctive peep-peep call of the oystercatcher was part of the soundtrack of my childhood, growing up on an estuary on the south coast of England, where the birds trotted and poked along the edge of the tide.
They are also a common sight near my current home on Galway Bay, feeding busily along the small rocky beaches or standing to attention in twos and threes, facing into the breeze.
The oystercatcher's dark, glossy back and white belly gives it a dapper look, accessorised with an orange-red bill which it uses to probe the wet sand for food. The name is a little misleading, as the bird rarely eats oysters. It dines mainly on smaller shellfish like mussels and cockles, prising them open with its bill or breaking them against rocks.
In both Ireland and Scotland the oystercatcher has an intimate association with St Brigit, one of many connections between the saint and the natural world...
Listen to more from Sunday Miscellany here.
