Word about the Hood Biannual newsletter of BirdLife Australia’s Beach-nesting Birds Program

Edition 16 – December 2016

UPDATE FROM THE BEACH-NESTING BIRDS TEAM

Renée Mead, Beach-nesting birds interim Manager!

Well, we’re five months into the Hooded Plover breeding season, and

already it’s been a hectic, emotional rollercoaster! With pairs starting to

copulate as early as July, we were on our toes (not really ready), and

things have been up and down since! Nesting started in South Australia in

August and it was devastating for the volunteers, land managers and for

us to have nearly all eggs, chicks and even entire beaches washed away in

the September storm surges. Some beaches have had all their sand

washed away, and birds have no territory left to nest on. This certainly

made the biennial count difficult in these areas, as birds were flocking and

not on ‘usual’ territories. So the South Australian’s have had a rough start,

but the Eyre Peninsula has managed the first fledgling of the season! So

ups and downs!

Victoria also has had a slow start to the season with erratic weather conditions, gale force winds and tidal

surges, finally in December, most pairs are nesting! Of all seasons we have a student, Tom Schmidt,

investigating the fates of chicks using radio tracking, and there have been so few chicks to follow. We

have had just one fledgling on the Mornington Peninsula. Christmas is certainly going to be busy with

many nests due to hatch, and it looks like a bit of a heat wave is due at this time so they will need us! It

will be certainly hard to top the fantastic season we had last year, with one of the best breeding seasons

since the BNB Project began, but I know you will all work extremely hard to ensure we get fledglings this

season.

Our team has been busy with so many workshops – and since the last newsletter, Meg and I have

undertaken training workshops, school activities, kids awareness raising activities and banding trips in:

Fleurieu Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula, Eyre Peninsula, Far West Victoria, Bellarine/Surf Coast, Mornington

Peninsula, Bass Coast, East Gippsland, Coffs Harbour and Tweed Heads – focusing on either Hooded

Plovers, Red-capped Plovers, Beach-stone Curlew or Pied Oystercatchers. All whilst still attempting to

keep on top of our regular reporting regime and supporting our wonderful volunteers and land managers.

We want to send a big thank you to all of you. We really admire all of you, and the efforts

you go to, to help us protect our Beach-nesting Birds – you are a tenacious bunch (just like

the birds we work with!) and when a nest fails, or chick fails, you pick yourselves up, and

keep moving forward, ready to protect the next nest. Meg and I want to thank you for

understanding that we have been short staffed this year, with more grant contracts and

travel than we’ve had to do previously. We look forward to Project Manager Dr. Grainne

Maguire coming back to work (part time) in April. Meg and I are also looking forward to

having little Elara (Grainne's new addition) coming along to workshops as well!

Mosaic Hoodie – Yorke Peninsula

2 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

SAVE THE DATES IN 2017

May 26th

– 27th

: Beach-nesting Bird National Conference.

Willunga, South Australia (Fleurieu Peninsula)

If you’re interested in attending, and require extensive

travel, please contact bnb.events@birdlife.org.au as we

may be able to connect you with others wishing to attend

from your area.

As this is coming to our busiest time of year, please ensure that you’re filling out the online data portal,

and collecting threat data at all our sites, so we can best learn to mitigate the major threats at those

sites. We have had a significant upgrade to our portal, which you can read in the Portal Corner section of

the newsletter. If you have any questions about management, or anything BNB related, please don’t

hesitate to contact us.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy and Safe new year.

BNB Team: Meg and Renee (and Grainne).

WELCOME AND GOODBYE TO OUR NEW BEACH-NESTING BIRDS STAFF AND OFFICE

VOLUNTEERS!

As many of you were aware, we had Kasun Ekanayake and Dan Lees help us out for a stint while Grainne

is away on maternity leave. Kasun was with us for a couple of weeks able to get the Biennial Count online

induction up and running, and was able to put together the first draft of the Threat ID Book that will be

coming out earlier next year. Dan Lees was with us part time for 6 months, and in that time was focussed

on getting some preliminary hoodie stats for the 2015-2016 breeding season together for the end of

season debriefs run in April-May. He was also instrumental in getting the Fleurieu Peninsula Breeding

season report completed and data analysis for a 6 year review for the Fleurieu Peninsula. He also

participated in kids activities, information workshops and field work.

Both Meg and Renee want to thank them so much for their

assistance. We wish them all the best with their new

endeavours – some of you may still see Kasun around, as he

is now the Samphire Coast Icon Project Manager in

Adelaide, covering a maternity leave position within BirdLife

Australia (working with his beloved Red-caps). Dan Lees has

taken a role with Phillip Island Nature Parks as a full time

Ranger working on Hooded Plovers (and other beach-

nesters). Congratulations guys, and thank you again for

helping us out in what was an extremely hectic time.

Having said that, we want to now welcome our new Office Volunteers Sally Heeps and Lou Citroen.

Can you see the chick? Photo: Glenn Ehmke

Kasun looking for hoodies, Yorke Peninsula. Photo: Renee Mead

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Many of you will have had an email from Sally, our Biennial Count Coordinator volunteer. Sally has been

responsible for ensuring that the 2016 Biennial Count runs smoothly and has been available to assist

Count Coordinators and volunteers. It’s great to have someone so motivated and skilled in this role. We’re

extremely lucky to have Sally, and she’s been doing a tremendous job, especially considering Meg and

Renee are out of the office most of the time.

Lou will be overseeing the volunteer induction process,

ensuring that participants have completed their online

induction, volunteer registration form and given access

to the online data portal. He will be in once a week to

help us out, as the Project just continues to grow and

grow with more people wanting to join to help their local

beach-nesting birds.

VOLUNTEER INDUCTION COORDINATOR

Lou Citroen

My formal training is in Mechanical Engineering, but quite some time before retirement, I became 'hooked'

on our beautiful feathered creatures. For this, I give credit entirely to my middle daughter, Samantha -

who is now an accomplished Forester scientist - attaining her Nature Badge for Girl Guides (some years

ago now). For Samantha and me, the road to learning about birds started with only the most

rudimentary understanding, a Simpson and Day field guide, a pair of binoculars (each) and our first early

morning bird observation excursion to our local creek. Suffice to say that, 20-or-so years on, I remain a

student of ornithology; gradually learning how much more there is still to know; but still very much

'hooked'!

Long before I even knew about 'Birds Australia' (as it was at the time), but ever the Engineer, I figured

that consistent and periodic sightings data would be preferable over sporadic or ad hoc ones. And so I set

about developing a database with some 'home-grown' observation criteria. Then, about the time I retired

in 2009, I stumbled on this fabulous organisation by a somewhat tortuous path (but I'll spare you the

embarrassing details) and came into contact with Andrew Silcocks who happily signed me up to the Atlas

program. It was Andrew, incidentally, also helped me refine my database to align with that of the Atlas for

ready data-sharing.

The ensuing years of volunteering at Birdlife (mainly in the Atlas work) – primarily in the area of woodland

birds – have been a most rewarding and eye-opening experience for me, rubbing shoulders with and

learning from the experts in ornithology who are doing outstanding conservation work.

Luckily, with a growing urgency in conservation

work for our threatened shorebirds has come a

groundswell of public volunteer support and

involvement. Extra internal support within the

small Beach-nesting Birds (BNB) group quickly

became apparent to help with coordination of

volunteer registrations and training etc. As a

result, a volunteer position (Volunteer Induction

Coordinator) was recently created; I applied and

was delighted to be selected; and look forward to

my new role in support of the BNB conservation

work conducted by amazing scientists and

volunteers.

Photo: Glenn Ehmke

Photo: Renee Mead

4 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

BIENNIAL COUNT UPDATE

Sally Heeps, Volunteer – Biennial Count Coordinator

This year was another Hooded Plover Biennial Count

year, and I have been happy to have a part in making it

happen. Hooded Plovers are a fantastic beach-nesting

bird, but sharing the beach with people and other

threats has reduced their numbers and made them

vulnerable. The Biennial Count is a comprehensive way

of once every 2 years surveying suitable habitat along

the coastline between southern NSW and central South

Australian coast. This effort is massive and needs the

cooperation and commitment from agencies managing

land along the coastline and dedicated volunteers.

My role has been to provide support, data forms and maps to those regional coordinators who have

undertaken to complete the survey this year. I’ve admired the efforts of those who have made sure that

sections have had an allocated surveyor to walk/ride or drive the stretches of coastline in search of the

birds. Once sighting an individual/pair (or more!) they are diligently noted down the habitat and the

range of threats that may be present at that site recorded. This is important information in understanding

the issues faced by Hoodies, but is difficult in windy conditions!

My own experience of surveying was off the Victorian coast

near Port Albert (south Gippsland Region), where I surveyed

the beaches of Dream and Clonmel islands. I was lucky

enough to have transport provided by Jonathan Stevenson,

Parks Vic Ranger of the area and Regional Coordinator for

Friends of the Hooded Plover South Gippsland. Jonathan

was not only very patient in waiting for me to cycle my way

to the end point of each island (would recommend fat tyred

bikes as a decent way to get about on firm sand) but also

showed me where the Bar-tailed Godwits and Eastern

Curlews were hanging out! Thanks Jono. I recorded 9

hoodies and 8 juveniles. All in all, a very exciting day.

I have enjoyed my experience in the coordination role, to support the beach-nesting team – a great bunch

of people who truly know their stuff and are fun to work with. I now have the task of sitting down and

entering all of the hard-earnt data to see how the population is faring!

I just want to take this opportunity to thank all of the coordinators, and participants for doing an amazing

job (yet again), of ensuring that each route had someone to survey, and that everyone made it out to do

their survey stretch. It’s a phenomenal achievement, and we’re very privileged to have so many

wonderful and keen participants who make this count what it is today.

Photo: Kate Durrant

Photo: Kate Durrant

Photo: Glenn Ehmke

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PLOVER APPRECIATION DAY – 16TH

SEPTEMBER 2016

Thank you to everyone who made the 2nd Plover appreciation day a

success, for those who ran beach walks, and even did information

sessions where the local Mayor attended! It’s all a great way to highlight

the plight of these tenacious little birds around the world and people are

really starting to run with it! Which is fantastic! Below are a couple of

things that were undertaken on the day!

PLOVER APPRECIATION DAY AT WONTHAGGI NORTH PRIMARY SCHOOL

Marissa Cashmore, Teacher, Wonthaggi North Primary School

The sustainability group at Wonthaggi North Primary School have been

focusing on waste reduction and our impact on the environment this

year. We have embarked on several projects, including the milk bottle

igloo and a bottle cap lid mural. The students presented these projects

at our Science Fair back in August.

Over the past two years we have enjoyed working with Landcare and Birdlife. Recently we had Megan

Cullen out to present a workshop on the Hooded Plovers and how we can help protect them.

WONTHAGGI MARKET – PLOVER APPRECIATION DAY

Dan Lees, Beach-nesting Birds Project Officer (at the time of event)

Thanks to the CoastCare Community Grants Program, Steve Johnston, Wendy Davies and I set up and

attended a market stall at the Wonthaggi Rotary Club Market to help celebrate Plover Appreciation Day. A

few of the market’s regular stall holders hadn’t turned up so this gave the Hooded Plover stall a prime

Photo: Melissa Cashmore

Photo: Melissa Cashmore Photo: Melissa Cashmore Photo: Melissa Cashmore

6 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

position (up the front and near the coffee van). The day started out slow, but once the sun appeared the

locals came out in good numbers.

One particular young boy was in luck, he had just received a puppy for his birthday from his grandfather

and both he and his grandfather were at the market looking to buy a dog lead. As luck would have it one

of the other stall attendees pointed him in our direction and we were able to give him a free Hooded

Plover dog lead! They were delighted with the free dog lead and stayed to make a badge and engage with

us about the plight of the threatened Hooded Plovers.

Just when we thought the day couldn’t get better, with

lots of kids and parents making badges; a big group of

girls came up for the badge making which kept Steve,

Wendy and myself busy for at least half an hour while

they coloured in their badges and took turns pressing

them. I didn’t think too much of it until the next week

when BirdLife’s own Meg, presented at Wonthaggi

North Primary school and reported that one of the girls

from the group had gone away after collecting her

badge and the information fliers and created a detailed

project on the Hooded Plovers of her own accord!

Overall it was a very successful day and I would like to

thank Steve and Wendy for helping me out!

FROM SOCIAL MEDIA

With over 115 #ploverappreciationday tags from all over the world, we’ve shared just a snapshot of those

who helped celebrate plovers worldwide.

Photo: Dan Lees

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8 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

And check out our adventurous SuperHoodie, taking his travels around the globe to share in raising

awareness of the plight of our plover species!

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT:

Toni Ryan – Friends of Hooded Plover Far West Vic (Regional Coordinator)

I first volunteered for some Hooded Plover monitoring when Killarney

Coastcare included a summer monitoring program as part of a community

awareness coast grant around ten years ago. I learnt hoodie basics from local

beach environment guru and teacher, Tracey Delbridge (who still inspires me

today) and began to take my bino's on my early morning beach walks.

Soon after, I volunteered for shorebird and hoodie counts, eventually becoming hooked on hoodies after

meeting Grainne Maguire and becoming active in the beach-nesting bird program. That was the start of

hoodie signs, green rope and pickets!

Being a regular walker in Belfast Coastal Reserve, I monitor nests close to my home near Rutledge

Cutting at Tower Hill (shorebird paradise!) and anywhere else between there and Mills Reef near Port

Fairy. These are the beaches that my siblings and I spent our childhood years exploring, living adjacent to

Killarney Beach and wetlands (also bird paradise!).

At some point in time since then, I volunteered to coordinate the local hoodie volunteers in South West

Victoria between Warrnambool to Yambuk, and have met some inspiring and dedicated birdo's, and good

friends, along the way. Chasing funds, scouting materials, training new volunteers, catching up with

plover lovers and trying to make sure monitoring stats are recorded are some of the typical things I do as

part of that role.

My 'hoodie territory' is also the area of Belfast Coastal Reserve now under siege from commercial race

horse training. The sudden escalation of race horses on the local beaches has been a devastating thing to

watch as a volunteer. Our local hoodie hotspot has been invaded by large numbers of race horses doing

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high pace track work through the bird nesting zones across many beaches nearby. This has occurred as

the reserve is unregulated, and the impacts are coupled with inundation of unleashed dogs.

Despite now volunteering in a coast of conflict, where

our local birds have become the target of dreadful

behaviour, it has also been a time of inspiration to see

the local community, dedicated hoodie volunteers, land

management staff, environment groups and

organisations and various other champions unite in

the fight for our hooded plovers, to fight for off-beach

training of race horses, where they belong. Thank you

all.

I look forward to the introduction of

sustainable protection for local hoodies in the near

future, a return to peaceful early morning walks, and the

sight of hooded plover chicks feeding freely on my local

beaches.

*Note from the Beach-nesting Birds team: We just wanted to thank Toni Ryan, for going above and

beyond the ‘call of duty’ for her efforts to try and ban commercial horse racing from Belfast Coastal

Reserve. Toni faces horses cantering close by, purposely trying to intimidate her off the beach, jockey’s

spitting at her, and then the constant communication conflicts on the beach. She not only continues to put

the fences up, monitor the birds, warden chicks, and collect threat data, she also prepares information for

the State Environment Minister, works closely with the BirdLife Australia Conservation Team (different to

the BNB team), is in close communication with the land managers and contacts BNB for assistance. You

have had an extremely tough season Toni, and it’s not going to get easier any time soon, with a long

battle ahead of us, we just want to thank you for your efforts, because without you, the Hoodies within

Belfast Coastal Reserve, would have no chance at survival.

For those who haven’t already done so, we would greatly appreciate your signature on the following

petition to ban commercial horse racing on one of Victoria’s most productive hooded plover beaches:

http://bit.ly/SaveHoodies

STUDENT CORNER

DEAKIN UNIVERSITY HONOURS PROJECT – HOODED PLOVER CHICK

FATE

Tom Schmidt

Growing up I was always interested in the natural world around me,

and I particularly enjoyed bird watching with my Dad. The family 'bird

book' was my favourite read, and my brothers used to test my bird ID

skills by showing the pictures while covering the names. Following my

undergraduate studies I worked in ecological consulting and my

interest began drifting towards botany until sighting a Hooded Robin (a

Hoodie of sorts I guess!) rekindled my interest in birds, and the bird

book was my favourite once again. To develop my research skills and

gain conservation experience I have recently returned to University.

Coordinator, Toni Ryan (L) and volunteer, John Hargreaves (R). Photo: Grainne Maguire

10 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

I am currently completing Honours at Deakin University with Dr. Mike Weston and Dr. Grainne Maguire as

my supervisors, working closely with the Birdlife Beach-nesting Birds Team. My project will study the

movements and fate of Hooded Plover chicks; this follows successful studies on Red-capped Plover and

Masked Lapwing chicks by Dan Lees. The aim of the study is to gain a greater understanding of chick

movement, the threats they face and identify the main causes of mortality. The study covers three

regions: the Mornington Peninsula, Bass Coast, and Bellarine/Surf Coast, and will involve gathering data

through on ground monitoring, including tracking chicks using radio-transmitters.

I have already met many great and very helpful Hoodie volunteers, and look forward to meeting many

more during my research. I am excited to be a part of helping to discover more about the amazing lives of

Hoodies and hope my project can contribute towards their conservation.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA – CITIZEN SCIENCE PARTICIPATION IN AUSTRALIA

Nina James (written by Renee Mead & Meg Cullen)

Nina will be conducting her research on Volunteer Participation and has asked the Beach-nesting Birds

Project to be a part of the study. The purpose of the study is to explore citizen science participation in

Australia, and the factors that enable or inhibit participation. The project will indicate who gets involved in

citizen science and why, who the potential participants are, the interests and obstacles of current and

potential participants, and strategies for successful engagement.

BNB (Meg), has completed several surveys and interviews from an organisations perspective, but we now

need for our volunteers to have their say!

Nina would love to know about your experiences participating in the Beach-nesting Birds project, and to

learn more about the people who have contributed to its success ….. people like you!

Please complete an online survey to help us

improve people’s experience of volunteering in

the future. The survey is anonymous and once

completed, you can request a copy of the results.

We greatly appreciate your help!

https://www.research.net/r/participant-beach-

nestingbirds

PORTAL CORNER

Glenn Ehmke, BirdLife Australia

In our never ending quest to make monitoring as streamlined as possible, a number of new features have

been introduced this year as well as the addition of Oystercatcher and Beach Stone-curlew forms. The

addition of these species has been made possible thanks to NSW Environment Trust and Adelaide and

Mount Lofty Ranges NRM.

Specifying coordinates

Specifying accurate coordinates is important for analysis (especially of banded bird movements and

territory home range analysis) and of course for management of nests and so we have introduced full

screen maps on all screens - including forms.

Photo: Renee Mead

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Full screen maps allow easier specification of coordinates in forms and examination of data in the site

summary. By clicking on the bottom left icon on the maps you can make any map on the site full screen.

From here you can drop a marker using satellite or map view. Then you simply exist the map by clicking

‘Exit Fullscreen Map’ and the coordinates will be populated for you.

Sites vs incidental observations

Sites are intended for breeding territories or spots where birds regularly seen. By using the site drop

down on forms, coordinates are automatically populated based on where regional coordinators or the BNB

team specify locations in the administration section*. This saves time during data entry.

* you can always override the pre-populated site coordinates yourself by using the map or entering GPS

coordinates manually.

For the newly added species, there are not many sites yet defined right now, but more will be created as

monitoring for these species expands no doubt.

However if a site does not appear, that’s no problem, you can always enter a sighting for any species at

any location within a region by recording a ‘Location description’ on the first form page and coordinates by

picking from the map or entering GPS details. These ‘incidental’ observations will be useful in determining

where species regularly occur and may be breeding if this is not known.

Non-site observations can be viewed on the site summary screen by selecting ‘All records’ in the filter

section.

See the link below for details.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cgxufheawr2tblw/Entering%20non-site%20surveys.pdf?dl=0

Because site names need to be unique (to avoid confusion), sites may need to be suffixed with a species

code - e.g:

Sandy Point (RCP)

Sandy Point (PO)

12 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

A truly multi-species portal and management tool

With the move to a truly multi-species portal the site summary is now a little different. Now you select the

species and region you wish to view data for in any combination needed.

You can select a single region and species or multiple regions and multiple species and see what’s

happening in a set of regions at once.

Look at the ObsID column to show which species record the line is for. The ObsID has species prefixes

(HP, PO, RCP etc.) which identify this.

The details box also highlights the species being viewed to avoid confusion.

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Management alerts

Management alerts may be familiar to those Hoodie managers and volunteers. These are now available

for all 5 species. Please contact the BNB team for details.

Red-capped Plover form updates coming soon

Red-capped Plover forms have long been a subject of debate given this species nesting habits - i.e. often

nesting very close to one another, almost semi-colonially. Because Red-caps nest so close together there

is a lot of effort entering threat and management details multiple times when in reality the

threats/management is the same for many nesting pairs.

Further work this year is planned to eliminate this and make monitoring much easier for Red-caps. Many

thanks to those who have contributed to the conceptual design of this coming change!

FROM NSW

BIRDS EYE VIEW

Reid Waters

Warning To Visiting Birdos

Byron Bird Buddies have established a scope surveillance (providing overview of

the entire Byron Catchment) eyrie atop the Byron Bay Lighthouse. Any over

enthusiastic birdos intentionally or otherwise ‘getting too close’ to nesting birds

may just lose their sun hats or toupees.

THE CURLEWS COLLECTIVE

Reid Waters

The longer you spend observing and accumulating intimate life cycle bird knowledge the more you see the

necessity of well-planned conservation. Without getting too anthropomorphic you can almost feel your

favourite species emoting ‘if you love us, prove it, protect us and our habitat’.

Our Byron Bay-Brunswick Heads Collective includes

Byron Bird Buddies Administrator Jan Olley organizes

funded money for fences, signs educational materials etc.

Fellow BBB members, Isabell Borrelli conjures fantastic

feathered costumes for school and community education.

Ron Buckstein supplies the indispensable species

spreadsheet for fellow volunteer observers like Anne

Jones. Bander Dr Greg Clancy always happy to share his

ethical ‘birdsmanship’ when a banding we go. NSW NPWS

Ranger Lori Cameron for liaison and practical field support

(often on her days off). Matt Clarke great bushman

always ready to give a hand.

Photo: Reid Waters

14 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

Last but not least Birdlife Australia’s conduit to the big wide world via their portal and Renee Mead’s and

Meg Cullens’ November Hastings Point Tweed coast workshop. BTW after observing Renee’s excitement

(she almost laid an egg) at sighting her first BSC nest/egg we decided to name the new chick (soon to be

banded) after her.

That’s about it for now. Check out ‘Renee’s’ progress on Byron Bird Buddies site:

http://www.byronbirdbuddies.com.au/

*Extra note from Renee (the human one, not the BSC): – this chick has now been banded! Yellow “C9” –

and yes, I was extremely excited to see a BSC nest up close! I was so chuffed that the BBB nicknamed

the BSC after me! Obviously I wasn’t great at hiding my excitement. And in the new year, my aim is to

try and view C9 on our next trip up to the location – be prepared for an update in the next newsletter!

Thanks BBB for your fantastic work!

NORTHERN NSW BIRDLIFE AUSTRALIA WORKSHOPS

Meg Cullen, Beach-nesting Birds Conservation

Officer

BirdLife Australia’s Beach-nesting Birds team

had a wonderful trip to northern NSW in

October this year. An enjoyable but all too

brief visit had Renee Mead and Meg Cullen

meet with a group of dedicate volunteers and

land managers all keenly interested in our

amazing beach-nesting birds, the Beach Stone-

curlew, Sooty and Pied Oystercatchers and the

little Red-capped Plover. A full day workshop

at Hastings Point wasn’t nearly enough time for

all the information sharing that went on!

Topics included an introduction to the Beach-

nesting Birds project, including the online

portal which is used for monitoring and management of these birds, local information on where the local

species nest and what conservation works have been going on and all importantly how all the groups

involved can join together to make an even greater difference to these amazing birds. Renee and Meg

spent the next day checking out some of the local beaches to get a better understanding of the sites and

the works that have been going on, they then travelled south to Coffs Harbour to do it all again!

This trip and associated works were made possible through a NSW

Environmental Trust grant which will fund three years of beach-

nesting birds work throughout the state, including a state

conference planned for October 2017. The team will be up again in

the Tweed Heads region in January to visit 4-5 holiday parks and

run some fun activities with holidaying families in order to raise

awareness about these birds and how beach users can help to

protect them. We will also be running a workshop on how to

monitor beach-nesting birds in the region, one at Pottsville

Caravan Park – 24th January and Urunga Neighbourhood Centre

25th January. Contact meghan.cullen@birdlife.org.au to find out

more about these events and how you can get involved in the

project. We can’t wait!

Hastings Point Workshop. Photo: Reid Waters

Photo: Renee Mead

Photo: Reid Waters

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FROM VICTORIA

COASTCARE GRANTS UPDATE

Renée Mead and Meghan Cullen, BNB Team.

This year the BNB team have been lucky enough to receive two Community Coastcare Grants to assist

with works in Far West Victoria and East Gippsland. The aim of the East Gippsland grant was to foster

‘Plover Appreciation’ along the Gippsland coast to improve on-ground effect in Hooded Plover

conservation. These funds provided us with the opportunity to design and print some unique Plover

Appreciation Day materials, include new sticks and badges. We were also able to run a series of events

leading up to Plover Appreciation Day on the 16th of September, including a badge making and

information stall at the Wonthaggi Market, a school visit to Wonthaggi North Primary schools and full day

volunteers training workshops at Inverloch. This grant will also help to supply some new fencing

protection kits for the summer and to run further awareness raising events next year.

The second Community CoastCare Grant for Friends of Hooded Plover Far West Victoria was dedicated to

the Biennial Count. Meg was able to undertake a Biennial Count workshop to recruit some new volunteers

to assist with the survey. We managed to get 100% of the region covered and had a number of new

participants – some of which travelled from Melbourne to be able to cover the more remote sections of

beach. We were also able to get an online induction completed for those who just want to participate in

the biennial count – this induction focuses on bird

identification, filling out the specific data sheets and

safety in the field. We are also creating a Threat ID book,

and will use feedback from those who used the draft

book, to then make the final copy. This is will be a

resource that can be used at any time, not just for the

biennial count, so we wanted to get that feedback before

printing!

WESTERNPORT/POINT LEO – RED-CAPPED PLOVER WORKSHOP

J. Tritt, Volunteer, Friends of the Hooded Plover Mornington Peninsula

The room at the Point Leo Information Centre gradually filled with people who ranged from about ten to

eighty years of age, lived mainly on the Mornington Peninsula, though some had come a lot further than

that, and had a wide variety of occupations. What we had in common was an interest in a tiny shore bird,

the Red-capped Plover.

Photos: Grainne Maguire

The Crags to Yambuk. Photo: Renee Mead

16 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

As someone who moved to Balnarring in the

last few years, I’d seen the information

boards at the beach about the care we need

to take when these birds are nesting. I’d

seen the roped off areas and read the

notices. For a long time I’d assumed, as they

were plovers, that they’d be a similar size to

the Masked Lapwings, and similarly bold, and

I thought I’d never seen them. It was only

recently that I realised those tiny grey birds

who’ve delighted me for ages with their rapid

sprinting along the water’s edge, are those

very Red-capped Plovers. I wanted to know

more and, by the look of things, so did a lot

of other people.

Diane Lewis, from Friends of the Hooded Plover, Mornington Peninsula, was excited at the great

attendance and introduced Renee Mead to us. Renee has been studying mainly Hooded Plovers, but she

knows a lot about the red-caps and, with the help of the local rangers, she presented a vast amount of

information. It was also obvious there’s still an awful lot that’s not yet known about these little birds, and

we can all play a part in adding to the knowledge base by getting some training and contributing to the

information pool.

Some interesting facts –

Red-cap chicks are born with adult sized legs and ‘grow into’

them, so they look faintly ridiculous, like fluff on stilts, for a

while.

The adults attempt to lead predators away from their eggs by

pretending to be injured, saying ‘take me, take me!’, or by

adopting a rodent-like run, or by running fast and pretending

to feed – nothing to see here. So while I’d been naively

following adults along the water’s edge, they’d actually been

luring me away from their nests.

Energised by a lunch of gourmet sandwiches, we made our way down to the beach by the surf club. Every

other time I’ve been to that beach, it’s been to watch my grandchildren running in cross country races or

taking part in regional Nipper contests. In other words, it’s been covered with hundreds of people, not a

bird to be seen. I was really surprised that on this day the beach was almost empty and that, right on

cue, a pair of Red-capped Plovers appeared with one offspring, and so did a Hooded Plover and some of

the red-necked stints Renee had been wanting us to see as they can be confused with the Red-capped

Plovers. Children gathered round to have a look through the scopes that had been set up for viewing.

Interested, knowledgeable children are our hope for the future.

So, all went to plan, with a very satisfying conclusion. Some people will have gone away determined to

join the Beach-nesting Birds project, others may just email the rangers to let them know when they’ve

seen something interesting, but all will have left better informed and able to spread the message among

friends and community, even if it’s just to adopt Renee’s custom of carrying spare dog leads to give away

at the beach.

Photo: Renee Mead

Photo: Renee Mead

Photo: Renee Mead

17

BREAMLEA AND BELLARINE PENINSULA

Julie Riley and Jennie Turner, Coordinators, Friends of the Hooded Plover Breamlea & Andrea Dennett,

Coordinator, Friends of the Hooded Plover Bellarine Peninsula

Bellarine and SurfCoast Region Training Day

Renee Mead from the Beach-nesting Birds

Team presented a well-attended Hooded

Plover training workshop on the 29th October

at the Breamlea Environment Centre.

Renee took the group of approx. 30 through

monitoring, using the newly updated data

portal, and some handy tips for wardening.

The large group then carefully walked along a

section of beach which is the breeding

territory of 1 of the (sometimes) 4 local pairs.

It was exciting to some of the newcomers who

hadn’t ever seen hooded plovers to spot the

pair (CP and unbanded mate) lounging around

and observe them through a scope. The group gained a first-hand understanding of the size of territory,

a look at favoured nesting spots, and the threats to the birds. Being the first warmish Saturday for some

time, beach users, including quite a few dog walkers with dogs off lead, were out and about – all were

‘positive and compliant’ once some of the more experienced volunteers demonstrated how to engage with

the public.

It was great for the area coordinators – Sue Guinness (SurfCoast sites), Andrea Dennett (Bellarine sites)

and Julie Riley (Breamlea sites) – to meet so many potential new volunteers. It was particularly satisfying

for our Friends of the Breamlea Hooded Plover (current active membership of 2), to welcome a young

local, Jack Frencham aged 12, and his Mum, Senoke to the day. There were also a number of other

young possible recruits. Now that the breeding season is well underway, arrangements are being made

with a few of those who attended to walk the beaches with experienced volunteers on a monitoring

excursion. Hopefully this will further encourage them to complete the online training and get properly

registered so we can capitalise on what felt like a very successful day.

Budding Scientists join the Count

Friends of the Hooded Plover, Breamlea had the pleasure of hosting two enthusiastic 11 year-old students

from Torquay College, Dylan Sceney and Aaron De Leenheer, on the Biennial Beach-nesting Birds Count.

Both are currently working on a school project looking at Hooded

Plover conservation and Dylan’s mum, Donna contacted Birdlife

Australia to see if the boys could join the Count.

Beach-nesting Birds Count Coordinator, Sally Heeps contacted

volunteers Julie and Jennie and arrangements were made for them

to take part in the Black Rock and Bancoora section on Saturday,

19th December.

The weather was perfect and the survey proved very productive with

the sighting of our usual suspects – BK and unbanded mate at Black

Rock, AY from 44W Bancoora East, hanging around the rocks near

the territory of the other Bancoora pair, CP and unbanded partner at

46W. The boys were excited to observe this pair demonstrating

breeding behaviour. Both birds cautiously appeared on the foredune

west of 46W and flew down to the rocks at the water’s edge in order

to distract us. A scrape with one egg was subsequently found in the

dunes two days later but unfortunately failed.

Photo: Renee Mead

Photo: Jennie Turner

18 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

Dylan and Aaron’s knowledge of the Hooded Plover was very impressive. They both showed a level of

maturity beyond their years and were keen to learn. We heard from Donna that Dylan went back to school

and told his teacher and some friends all about plover watching and he has been educating friends and

family about them, including the difference between hoodies and Lapwings!

Julie and Jennie completed the Breamlea beach section of the Count on Sunday, 20th November and

observed the Thompsons Creek estuary unbanded pair loafing near their favourite nesting site, west of

the 50W access track (they currently have a nest in the dunes at this spot).

Unfortunately, no red-capped plovers, red-necked stints or other migratory birds were sighted that day at

the estuary, although there are normally large flocks there.

KEEP VICTORIA BEAUTIFUL SUSTAINABLE CITIES AWARDS

City of Greater Geelong

The Friends of the Hooded Plover Bellarine and Breamlea

along with the City of Greater Geelong were thrilled to be

recognised with a Highly Commended Award for the project

“Partnerships to Protect the Hoodie” in the Environmental

Sustainability category of the Keep Victoria Beautiful

Sustainable Cities Awards 2016. The project highlighted the

incredible effort from BirdLife volunteers and the support

provided by the City of Greater Geelong to increase the

breeding success of Hooded Plovers each year.

BASS COAST SHIRE ACTIVATES A HOODED PLOVER STRATEGY

Steve Johnson, Coordinator, Friends of the Hooded Plover Bass Coast

On 10/11/16 the Steering Group overseeing the introduction of the Bass Coast and Phillip Island

Hooded Plover Strategy met for their inaugural meeting at the Wonthaggi Shire Offices. The projects

vision statement “A healthy, viable population of Hooded Plovers being maintained across the Bass Coast,

now and into the future”

A consultation process to help put a strategy document together revealed a vision statement and three

key principles of 1) Coordination, 2) Alignment, 3) Effective Protection with actions attached to each to

provide a framework to build the strategy.

At their first meeting the Group made up of representatives from the Bass Coast Shire Council, Friends of

the Hooded Plover - Bass Coast, Parks Victoria, Phillip Island Nature Park, Hooded Plover Watch and

Birdlife Australia discussed the Role of the Steering Group and existing on ground Working Groups on

Phillip Island and the Bass Coast mainland, a Governance Model, Membership of the two groups and

timing of Steering Group Members.

The coming together of the key agencies and

working parties to form an alliance for better

coordination and resource sharing will be

ongoing across the shire to help improve the

conservation of the Hooded Plover.

Steering Group Members L to R:

Dan Lees (PINP) Meg Cullen (BA) Jarvis Weston (PINP) Stephen Johnson

(FofHP) Brian Martin (PV) Claire Miller (PV Visitor) Derek Hibbert (BCSC)

David Martin (BCSC) cameraman.

Source: City of Greater Geelong

19

BIENNIAL COUNT UPDATE – BASS COAST

Brian Martin, Parks Victoria, Bass Coast

Over past few days, local PV staffs along with members of the

Bass Coast Friends of the Hooded Plover (BCFHP) have been

assisting BirdLife Australia with the 2016 Biennial Hooded

Plover Count. I had the pleasure of undertaking the survey

along the section of coast between Kilcunda and Cape

Paterson with BCFHP Leader, Steve Johnson. Hooded Plovers

were the primary focus of the count, with Pied Oystercatcher,

Sooty Oystercatcher, and Red-capped Plover sightings also

being recorded as they are beach-nesting birds with similar

management needs.

Given the recent unstable weather conditions and resultant

heavy sea conditions most of the Hooded Plovers were still

flocking and yet to split into breeding pairs. Our count for the

day totalled 31 Hooded Plover and 7 Pied Oystercatchers,

which was an excellent result.

PHILLIP ISLAND – SEASON UPDATE

Jon Fallaw, Ranger, Phillip Island Nature Park

The first nest for 2016-17 breeding season was at Elizabeth

Cove on 02/09/16 (photo) but disappeared very close to

hatching. The second pair to nest was at Andersons Boat

Ramp again on the north coast on 14/09/16 and lasted two

weeks before the eggs disappeared perhaps from predation

or high tide? Winter storms caused sand erosion from many

sections of coast such as Magiclands at Cape Woolamai,

Forrest Caves where access stairs were undermined, and

Surf Beach. The result was what appeared to be poor

nesting habitat due to lowered beach sand levels and steep

collapsing foredunes on many beaches.

To the 7/10/12 there were 16 nests, with failed nests at Elizabeth Cove, Andersons Boat Ramp, ANZACs,

Forrest Caves, Cowries, Colonnades and Smiths Beach due to tide or predation, raven recorded at most

sites. Of the seven active nests, 3 chicks hatched at Anchorage Rd (2 by 27/11/16) and there were eggs

at Berrys, Hutchison Beach, BellaVista, Smiths, and two new sites at Justice Road and Colonnades west.

An exciting step forward in the management of Hooded Plover on Phillip Island was the appointment of

Daniel Lees as the ‘Hooded Plover Ranger’ with Phillip Island Nature Park for six months. He began work

on the 25/10/16 organising a volunteer workshop for 10/12/16 to reinvigorate community involvement in

‘Hooded Plover Watch’ this season. The position has been partly funded through the Penguin Foundation.

Dan has a wealth of bird experience particularly shorebirds and is finishing off a PhD with Prof. Mike

Weston on Red-capped Plovers. His Honours project was on Masked Lapwing and he has worked part time

for BirdLife Australia as a Beach-nesting Birds Project Officer where he helped manage Beach-nesting Bird

portal data, and assisted training days and workshops amongst other duties.

Steve checking leg flags and our trusty Polaris RZR570. Photo: Brian Martin

Photo: Jon Fallaw

20 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

The November island-wide count was conducted on 14/11/16, the total of 47 hoodies was the highest for

16 years of monitoring, up steadily from low of just 22 birds in 2001. The survey was part of the BirdLife

Australia state-wide biennial count which meant a lot of extra paperwork in windy condition for the

volunteers. Many thanks to all who attended and as you can see from the graph produced a great result.

In April 2016, Bass Coast Shire Council resolved to develop the ‘Bass Coast and Phillip Island Hooded

Plover Strategy’ which was presented to the BCSC council meeting on 21/09/16. The resolution called for

the formation of two Working Groups to develop Hooded Plover strategies for the 2016-17 summer

period, one group for Phillip Island to work with Phillip Island Nature Parks and one group on the Bass

Coast mainland to work with Parks Victoria.

The objectives of the Strategy were to; increase breeding

success, raise community awareness and collaboration

between land managers and community groups, habitat

protection, promote coexistence, adequate resourcing and

an ongoing evaluation and monitoring program. The Bass

Coast Shire Council Hooded Plover Strategy ‘Steering

Committee’ had its first meeting to coordinate hoodie

management across the Bass Coast Shire ahead of the

working group meetings.

Dave Martin, the Natural Resources Officer for the shire, has

rolled out new signage for Bass Coast managed beaches on

Phillip Island. As well as A4 signage for beach access points

Dan monitoring the Hutchison Beach nest. Photo: Jon Fallaw

Just hatched – Anchorage Rd chicks. Photo: Jon Fallaw

Photo: Jon Fallaw

21

there is both A3 and larger beach signage along with rope fencing. Hopefully these neat signs will help

Hooded Plover Watch volunteers educate the public about coexistence with beach-nesting birds.

EAST GIPPSLAND WORKSHOP

Deb Sullivan, Project Officer, BirdLife Australia

When the weather forecast suggests inclement

wind and rain, Murphys Law generally states that it

will arrive when least convenient, but not so for

the Lakes Entrance Beach-nesting Birds Workshop

on 24th September!

The sun glowed brightly as 35 attendees

discovered the trials and tribulations our beach

nesting birds face.

Dr Meghan Cullen from BirdLife Australia’s beach-nesting

birds team offered an informative morning, discussing

identification, challenges that beach-nesting birds face,

especially in high recreational areas and how communities

can become involved in protecting these beautiful birds.

Meghan also demonstrated the ‘My Hoodie’ data portal, and

how members of the community can log their own

sightings to benefit the project.

Attendees were also treated to some spectacular video

footage courtesy of the beach-nesting birds team extensive

research work.

The second half of the day

offered a boat trip, thanks to

Skipper Pete from Sea Safari and

walk on Rigby Island. Workshop

attendees were fortunate to see

Hooded Plovers, Crested Terns,

Bar Tail Godwits, and Pied

Oystercatchers to name a few.

Two pairs of Pied Oystercatchers

were spotted on eggs, these

birds were noted to have

successfully hatched their chicks

on a later survey of the island.

The day proved a great success

and was met with wonderful

feedback from all of those

participating.

As for Murphys Law….it poured

with rain the next day!

Boat travel for the field trip! Photo: Deb Sullivan

Photo: Deb Sullivan

22 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

MALLACOOTA HOODED PLOVER NESTING SEASON

Leonie Daws, Volunteer, Mallacoota

It’s that time of year again. Our plucky little Hooded Plovers are thinking about new chicks for Christmas.

However, it hasn’t been all straight forward for them this year. High tides at Betka Beach have been

washing over the preferred sites of both pairs who have traditionally nested there. They appear to be

looking elsewhere for a home this season.

One pair has a new nest with eggs on Tip

Beach towards the Bastion Point end. Thanks

to the support we have received from Birdlife

Australia’s Beach-nesting Birds Project,

including a two-day workshop in 2014, and

more recently a grant, we have been able to

put up signs and a temporary fence to help

keep them safe. We also now have a team of

volunteers who are keeping an eye on the

site, particularly this week when the tides are

exceptionally high.

The Birdlife Australia grant also enabled us to

purchase some permanent signage. We

negotiated with East Gippsland Shire Council

who agreed to the location of the signs and

assisted in erecting them at major beach

access points.

During their visit here for the workshop in 2014, the Birdlife Australia team were able to capture and place

a flag on the male one of our pairs. We have christened him MK. This helped us identify which birds were

nesting in each of the two Betka Beach sites. Over the 2014-2015 season, MK and his mate successfully

raised two chicks. They were unlucky last year when a severe storm resulted in the loss of their newly

hatched chicks. This season MK’s nesting site has been inundated and we are uncertain where he and his

mate are at the moment.

We are all hoping for success for the pair at Tip Beach.

MORNINGTON PENINSULA UPDATE

Diane Lewis, President, Friends of Hooded Plover Mornington Peninsula Inc.

No Dogs allowed

Since 1st November 2016 (after more than 10 years of campaigning) dogs are no longer permitted in the

Mornington Peninsula National Park. FoHP was invited attended the PV Media release following the tri-

partisan decision of the Victorian Government.

It’s not a ban as reported in the media simply removing the ‘set asides’ and reverting back to National

Park Regulations.

Volunteers have reported a marked decrease in dogs being taken onto the beaches, but our biggest worry

will be once the summer holiday makers arrive.

First Chick fledged

The most exciting news from the Mornington Peninsula is our first

chick has fledged in mid November. It is also the first chick to

fledge in Victoria. What a wonderful early Christmas present for all

our fantastic volunteers and such a big change from past years.

I can’t help thinking the decision to remove dogs from Mornington

Peninsula National Park helped this chick’s survival enormously.

Photo: Renee Mead

Montforts Fledgling. Photo: Karen Wootton

23

Winter and Spring

It has been a busy 6 months: FoHP volunteers visited the beaches over the winter months to check which

HPs were flocking and which birds stayed at home, they also joined the BNB team for a winter count in

July.

Two workshops have been held at Pt. Leo for the new Red-capped Plover project on Western Port and we

were able to fit in a HP workshop at Sorrento as well.

Volunteers have visited local schools and a local cub group (with Dad’s ready to assist making shelters).

Threatened Species Commissioner Visit

An unexpected visit by the Threatened Species Commissioner

Gregory Andrews in October, gave us a chance to take him onto

some of our beautiful beaches and experience first-hand some of

the issues we are facing.

We walked the length of Portsea; he saw two unmanaged HP

nests, one fenced nest and a flock of HPs. At Heyfields a dog off-

leash with no owner in sight highlighted the compliance issues this

National Park has and why the ‘set aside’ was abandoned.

Red-capped Plovers

Our new RCP - project on Western Port – ‘Citizen Science to the rescue’ is underway. Equipment has been

purchased and workshops held and new signs designed. New volunteers are being mentored and data is

now being entered on the Portal.

Two RCP chicks have fledged so far this season. This is the first time data has been collected on Western

Port. BirdLife will compare it to like-projects across Australia.

Pt. Nepean

Visits to Pt. Nepean by authorized FoHP

volunteers commenced in August. There are

strict guidelines to be followed, no management

of nests or chicks is permitted, and the visits

are purely for data collection.

Our first nest for the season was located on a

Pt. Nepean beach on 7th September.

Unfortunately the nest failed. We have

discovered AP from Pt. King bay beach has

moved to this quieter location and has paired

up with an unbanded HP.

Conflict Management

With the advent of the ‘No dogs in Mornington

Peninsula National Park’, Parks Victoria has

organized a ‘Client Interaction Conflict

Avoidance’ workshop with Kevin Collister for the

Friends of the Hooded Plover members. A

welcome idea to help volunteers better assesses

situations while interacting with members of public.

Some HP info from MPNP

Gunnamatta observations - ‘’all a little confusing really”

Prior to 2015/16 Season

Fingal Track (P4) - BJ/right/orange/male & LS/left/orange/female had been together for a

number of years and successfully fledged a number of chicks

Fingal Track East (P5) - DU/right/orange/female & unbanded partner had been together for a number of years and successfully fledged a number of chicks

Photo: Mark Lethlean

Photo: Glenn Ehmke

24 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

2015/16 Season

Fingal Track - BJ/right/orange/male & LS/left/orange/female split up late in the season after a

number of unsuccessful nests

o LS/left/orange/female moved to Fingal Track West with an unbanded partner

o BJ/right/orange/male stayed on Fingal Track and was joined by 14/left/yellow/female

Fingal Track East - DU/right/orange/female & unbanded partner had a number of unsuccessful nests

2016/17 Season

Fingal Track West - LS/left/orange/female & unbanded partner; they have had one nest this

season

Fingal Track - BJ/right/orange/male has partnered with 14/left/yellow/female for most of the

time; they have had two nests this season (one still current)

Fingal Track East - DU/right/orange/female & unbanded partner; they have had two nests this

season (one still current, but not looking promising)

o DU/right/orange/female disappeared to Pt Leo for a while and 14/left/yellow/female took over during her absence

To conclude we wish all volunteers a Merry Christmas with lots of “Chicks on the Beach’

FROM SOUTH AUSTRALIA

HOODIES AT MOONTA BAY AND PORT HUGHES ON YORKE PENINSULA

Glenda Woodward, Volunteer, Friends of Hooded Plover Yorke Peninsula

The Moonta Bay/Port Hughes coastline takes

in about 4km of beach on Northern Yorke

Peninsula, South Australia. Set a couple of

hours from Adelaide; during the year the area

is reasonably quiet with a population of about

3,000. During holiday periods the number

possibly quadruples, especially during

summer, prime time hoodie nesting time.

The local hoodies have had a challenging time

over the last few months (that is more

challenging than usual)! There have been two

severe storms, with the latter in late

September, causing large scale beach erosion

and taking several hoodie nests. Winds have

been much more severe on the beaches this

year (one thinks of the hoodies battling these

fierce winds when they are nesting).

So, even with all the challenges it seems that our local hoodie numbers have risen. On previous years

three hoodie pairs have been seen regularly during the nesting season, but this year there are five pairs.

It’s heartening, too, to see knowledge of the hoodies rising in the community, even a member of the

community challenged the Birdlife Australia team when they were seen trying to catch the hoodies during

banding time. After a quick chat to explain to the community member about what the Birdlife team were

actually doing, Renee and Kasun offered the community member to come along to the workshop at Port

Hughes. This is really highlighting the effort we are putting into community engagement, is really paying

off, with people even talking to the BNB team on the beach!! Eighteen people attended a Birdlife Australia

information session at Moonta during September. Unfortunately not all members of the community are on

our side, with someone at one of the beaches frequently damaging, destroying or hiding the birds on the

beach signs.

Two days after this photo was taken, the beach was unrecognisable, with

the storm surge high up in the vegetation on the right. Photo: Renee Mead

25

So, amongst the challenges and disappointments, there are signs that what we do, as volunteers does

make a difference for these gentle little birds.

CITY OF CHARLES STURT TO THE RESCUE! – A COUNCIL’S RESPONSE TO PROTECTING BEACH-NESTING

BIRDS

Kasun Ekanayake, Samphire Coast Icon Project Coordinator, BirdLife Australia

The Red-capped Plovers at Semaphore South beach in metropolitan Adelaide started nesting in early

August this year. This little stretch of beach is home to a small population of about 20 Red-caps and

usually there can be 3-4 pairs nesting on the upper beach and dune along with a small flock of non-

breeding adult and immature birds. It is such a lively beach when it comes to nesting red-caps as at any

one time over the spring/summer you are likely to find at least one active nest or family with chicks.

Being a metropolitan beach, it is quite popular among dog-walkers and beach-goers, hence our little red-

caps face an uphill battle to get their chicks through to fledging. Thanks to the efforts of our extremely

dedicated volunteers we have managed to raise the profile of these little battlers and as a result the local

council has come on board which has been fantastic for the plovers!

Even before the breeding season started, Kelly

Mader from the City of Charles Sturt council

contacted us expressing their interest in

protecting Red-capped Plovers on beaches under

their management. We thought Semaphore South

beach was the ideal place to start as we already

had several enthusiastic volunteers monitoring the

birds and a handful of flagged birds with breeding

history recorded over a couple of seasons. The

first nest was reported by our volunteers on the

12th of August (quite early as it was still winter!)

but it failed soon afterwards. We informed the

council about the nesting attempt and they

promptly got all the resources ready to erect

fences to protect potential nesting habitat. After

deciding on a suitable date, we met Garry Griffiths

of the council on the 15th of September at

Semaphore South beach to erect the fence. We managed to cordon off two sections of the beach, one

approximately 300m long and the other 100m long separated by an access point, with a metal dropper

and rope fence. We made sure there was enough room on the beach for walkers at high tide so that they

could easily walk below the fence without

disturbing nesting red-caps. We also installed a

couple of signs at the access points and along

the fence so that people knew what the fence

was for!

The volunteers were extremely happy with the

fence and with the fact that the local council had

erected it. Now the volunteers had a clearly

marked area to point to as red-cap nesting

habitat when they communicated with the public.

They were also happy to see a lot of dog-walkers

and beach-goers paying attention to the signs

and fence and doing the right thing!

Bizarre weather patterns over the spring

however really tested the strength and stability

of the fence. After just 2 weeks of erecting the

fence, a massive storm surge (4.3m compared

with the usual 2.2m) coupled with gale force onshore winds took down almost all of the 2 fences and

severely affected the nesting red-caps where a nest which was quite high up on the foredune got washed

The fence erected by the City of Charles Sturt Council to protect

Red-capped Plover nesting habitat at Semaphore South beach. Photo: Kasun Ekanayake.

Semaphore South beach after the storm surge. Beach wrack washed up to the foredune and the rope lying on the sand with no metal droppers to be seen. Photo: Kasun Ekanayake

26 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

away. The beach was a wreck! There was litter everywhere and some of the metal droppers that were

used for the fence had disappeared in to the sea. We tried and salvaged as much as we could but the

fence needed to be replaced.

After putting so much effort and resources in to erecting the fence in the first place we did not want to

burden the council with the task of re-erecting the fence. But the council was quick to react and come to

the rescue! Kelly and Garry contacted us straight away and said they would be happy to re-erect the

fence as soon as possible. It was done within days and a few days later we had a couple of new nests with

eggs within the cordoned off area!

It has been fantastic to have the City of Charles Sturt council’s support in protecting the red-caps at

Semaphore South beach. The volunteers have heaped praise on the council for their involvement and

truly appreciate the work they have done.

The council has also recently expressed

their interest in starting a Red-capped

Plover Facebook page for the Semaphore

South beach red-cap population. We fully

support their proposition and we believe

they are setting up a nice example for all

other councils to get involved in protecting

beach-nesting birds. The City of Port

Adelaide Enfield council which manage the

beaches north of Semaphore South beach

has contacted us in regards to including

Red-capped Plovers in their coastal

management plans. So, it’s slowly catching

on and all of this has been possible thanks

to the tireless work of volunteers who have

helped build up a nice database of breeding

success which we can use to convince land

managers such as councils to get on board.

Kudos to City of Charles Sturt council for

setting the trend!

HANGING OUT WITH THE RED-CAPS AT SEMAPHORE SOUTH BEACH

Susanne Nikolajsen, Volunteer, Red-capped Plover Monitoring Program

You must get your Red-cap eye in to notice these little birds, that´s for sure. Recently I was walking down

along the beach where they usually hang out and I was wondering where they were. I couldn´t see a

single bird. Making my way back, I suddenly saw them! A whole bunch of them. They were all seeking

shelter from the wind in little depressions and foot prints in the sand. They must have been there all

along, watching me go by, not moving a feather.

I became a volunteer with the Red-capped Plover Monitoring Program of the Samphire Coast Icon Project

in September this year but I have been photographing these beautiful and vigilant little birds for almost 4

years. I had heard of the project though, and I finally managed to attend an information event at the

beach where I got introduced to the residents that call the Semaphore South beach home.

Among those were female Red-capped Plover flagged T1 who was nesting at the time. I followed her

through the severe storm we had in early October, saw her get through the first 24 hours and was

devastated when her eggs got washed away by the high tide on the second night. She didn´t give up

though, and the second time she placed her nest in an area that seemed a bit more secure from the high

tide. However, 2 weeks into her incubation period the council decided to move some sand around and

huge dump trucks, excavators and bulldozers came within 10 meters of her. She did get somewhat

distressed at first but she persevered and hallelujah... when I got back to the beach after 2 weeks away

there was a chick.

However, this is not the first chick we have had this year at Semaphore South. In the wake of the severe

storm, out of nowhere a tiny piece of fluff on stilts suddenly appeared. We could not believe our eyes and

Female Red-capped Plover “T1” on nest within the fenced area at Semaphore South beach. Photo: Mary-Ann van Trigt.

27

under the watchful eye of the father this little one dodged numerous dangers of the beach and grew into a

beautiful young bird. One day, when another volunteer and I were on the beach gas-bagging (about birds,

obviously), loud distress calls from the father alerted us to a Kestrel above the dunes. The Kestrel came

down a couple of times and we were sure the chick had gone. The father was in obvious distress since the

chick was nowhere to be seen. However, this chick had already become very “beach” smart and the

Kestrel was left to find dinner elsewhere. When the chick finally emerged from hiding, there was joy all

around. I think the 2 volunteers almost shed a tear! This first little chick got their leg flag (X7) in late

October and unknown to anyone it was already able to fly for several meters and gave Kasun a good run

for his money. Unfortunately, I was not there to see that and it would have been a good laugh.

There is still so little we know about the movements of these resident birds but we have observed birds

coming to Semaphore South beach from down south. I was very excited when I saw a bird with a leg flag

that I had not seen before. Female W1 from Moana beach came by to say hello and I noticed that some

days we have up to 8 newcomers hanging out here and there is a bit of chasing around and wing flapping

when the locals get a bit annoyed and territorial.

One of the things we also try to do as much as we

can as volunteers with this project is to talk to

people on the beach. Especially the ones walking

their dogs without a lead. It can be a bit intimidating

to walk up to people sometimes but I am more

concerned about the dogs chasing the birds and the

possibility that they run rampant through the dunes

to worry about my own insecurities. And it is mostly

a positive experience and I find that people get

engaged and often stop for a chat to find out how

the birds are doing. Furthermore, we also get useful

information from our supportive beach/dog walkers.

They have given us information about birds nesting

and recently even about a chick foraging with

parents further down the beach.

Including myself, there are 4 volunteers in this area and sometimes we run into each other on the beach.

It is easy to recognise a Red-capped Plover enthusiast because when other people look towards the ocean

we are mostly turned towards the dunes. At least, at this time of year! There are days that I simply do

not come to the beach because it just feels too distressing. On days that the beach is packed I tend to

stay away. Though I did go on one weekend when it was really hot, the beach was packed and the birds

were there within meters of beach goers looking quite content. I think we tend to forget that for them

there is a daily rhythm, such as one particular beach goer coming past with his barking dog every day at

the same time, as well as yearly rhythms such as packed summer beaches.

We all enjoy the beach environment and there is room for all of us; people, dogs, horses, and birds. On

the human part, it only takes a little knowledge, consideration, and willingness to make adjustments in

our daily habits. It is a real joy for me to watch these little birds and to just hang out with them for a little

while.

EYRE PENINSULA

Renée Mead, Beach-nesting Birds Project Officer

Thanks to a successful grant application from the

Natural Resources EP and National Landcare

Program, in early December, I was lucky enough

to travel to the Eyre Peninsula for the second time

this year.

This time however, I was focussing my efforts on

the Southern region – Coffin Bay, Port Lincoln and

around the Port Neill Regions.

Photo: Susanne Nikolajsen

Eyes on the chick! Photo: Renee Mead

28 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

We were able to achieve quite a lot in a short trip, with two schools and over 100 students from years 4-7

receiving a Beach-nesting Birds education session in their classroom – many of the students had seen the

signs for Hooded Plovers on their local beaches and were really interested in learning more. We even had

one grade 5 student come along to our training workshop with his mum on the Sunday! Which was

wonderful to see. He’s all set and ready to become a BNB volunteer, with many experienced volunteers to

help mentor him along the way.

Two workshops, one in Port Neill and the second in Coffin Bay brought approximately 20+ people along –

which was a great turnout. We were able to see a week old chick at field trip of one of the workshops,

which was extremely exciting (even for me, as this was the first chick I’d seen all season).

It was great to see the efforts that our Eyre Peninsula

Volunteers are going to, to help protect these little

birds. The Eyre Peninsula has an extremely vast

stretch of coast, and the volunteers and land

managers have so much coastline to travel, just to

monitor the hoodies – so it was really exciting for me

to be able to visit some of their beaches and try and

assist with management options and try and band

some of the actively monitored pairs.

I want to thank Rachael for organising everything and

for being my chauffeur and for assistance with getting

the funding to be able to continue our work on Eyre

Peninsula. Hopefully we’ll be back again next season.

HELP PROTECT HOLDFAST BAY’S HOODIES!

Emma Stephens, Coast Estuary and Marine officer with Natural Resources Adelaide and Mount Lofty

Ranges, hosted by City of Holdfast Bay

It could be called a miracle – an unbanded pair of

Hooded Plovers turning up at one of Adelaide’s

metropolitan beaches and nesting for the very first time!

At first I thought Mike Hemus (City of Holdfast Bay’s

Coast and Biodiversity Officer) was pulling my leg when

he sent me a text in early October saying “we have a

hooded plover pair at Seacliff Beach, and they have

scrapes!”. The pair then disappeared for a week but

returned and subsequently laid a nest with 3 eggs in a

perfect spot on top of the foredune on 21st October.

For those of you who don’t know Seacliff it is just south

of Brighton – one of Adelaide’s most popular beaches.

We were understandably concerned and wanting to do

as much as possible for these guys!

The City of Holdfast Bay swung straight into action with assistance from Natural Resources Adelaide and

Mount Lofty Ranges staff – fencing the nest and installing signs, and closing off nearby access points. The

beach-sweeping was ceased in the area for the time being and Regulatory Services staff were happy to do

beach patrols regarding dogs on leashes.

There was a lot of excitement when the nest hatched 2 chicks (the 3rd egg never hatched) on 14th

November – unfortunately one disappeared a few days later, and the second disappeared at just under a

week old. However many of you would appreciate that it is absolutely incredible for the birds to have

achieved this much, considering the threats faced at such a busy beach. Both chicks disappeared on very

warm, busy afternoons – we don’t know the cause of the failure but we could possibly rule out fox or cat

as a result of conditions and number of people/dogs on the beach.

Photo: Emma Stephens

Photo: Renee Mead

29

Thankfully we have a Hoodie volunteer John who lives locally! And we were very fortunate to quickly gain

another 4 new volunteers: Ligita, Betty, Nicki and Lynda. Let’s just say they nearly talked themselves

hoarse at the beach – speaking to hundreds (and I’m not joking!) of dog walkers. The community support

was phenomenal with the majority of people so amazed to learn about the birds and keen to do the right

thing. It was an interesting scenario as we were raising the awareness of Hoodies for the very first time in

this area. A very different scenario to usual.

Volunteers also assisted NRM and

Council staff at two Dog’s

Breakfast workshops with the

treats attracting the dogs up to

our information table whether the

owner wanted to follow or not!

The volunteers also raised the

profile of the birds at the local

sailing and surf lifesaving clubs

and undertook chick wardening

for significant periods right

throughout the week the chicks

were running around. Volunteers

also ran a Hooded Plover

information/kids activity stall at

the Brighton Twilight Market and

have about another 10 people

interested to register as

volunteers!

Brighton Primary School are really keen to help out and are making chick shelters in anticipation of the

arrival of more chicks!

Restoration of the dunes since the 1970s by Council, State Government, school students, volunteers, local

businesses and other members of the community has meant this stretch of coast is now suitable habitat

for Hoodies to nest in this very metro area.

Many of you would have heard of this miracle through various media – the City of Holdfast Bay’s

communications team went to town and spread the news far and wide on social media, TV, radio,

newspapers etc. The result was impressive and has raised the profile of Hoodies not just at Seacliff, but

well beyond! Of course there were quite a few responses from the public regarding the Hooded Plovers

they had nesting on the oval across from their house…..(!) but it was a great opportunity to again

introduce the Hoodies to the wider community and dispel the confusion regarding Hoodies and Masked

Lapwings.

The exciting thing is that although the

birds disappeared for a couple of weeks,

they have returned and nested again in

exactly the same location. They are due

to hatch around 5th January – an even

more challenging time being the middle

of summer holidays. However we will be

doing everything we can to give them a

chance at survival.

A huge thanks to BirdLife Australia, City

of Holdfast Bay, Natural Resources

Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges and

volunteers for your amazing support!

Photo: Mike Hemus

Photo: Mike Hemus

30 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

CITY OF ONKAPARINGA ENVIRONMENTAL GRANT

Sue and Ash Read, Regional Coordinators, Fleurieu Peninsula

In July we received approval for our application for a grant from the City of Onkaparinga under their

Environment Grants scheme. We applied for a badge-making machine with accessories and also for 3D

printed models of 6 adult Hooded Plovers, 6 chicks and 9 eggs. The Fleurieu Peninsula consists of three

regions and thus each region would have its own set of models.

The models will be used to raise public awareness in displays in such places as school/council libraries and

various community events along with a set of mounted photographs taken by our volunteers and

information pamphlets about the plovers.

Unfortunately there has been some delays in obtaining the 3D

printed models as it is most important that the best possible

specimens are scanned, and the adult specimen that had been

used in the past was rather a poor example and thus

produced a less than satisfactory result. That meant the hunt

was on a better specimen and thanks to Renee and Meg for

their hard work in tracking down a suitable specimen from the

Barwon Coast and getting it to Monash University where it

could be scanned and the models printed. There was no

suitable specimen of a chick so a dead chick had to be sent to

a taxidermist to produce a life-like example so that it could

then be scanned. This may sound like a very complicated

process to obtain a few models, but once the specimens have

been scanned they will be readily available for any other

groups who would like to have their own models made at some future time.

The 3D models are available in either plastic or plaster format (plastic is more expensive) and we have

decide to get some printed in both formats so we can then evaluate which are the most suitable in terms

of appearance and durability. Hopefully we will then be able to advise others of which format is most

suitable from our experience.

We would like to thank the City of Onkaparinga for their generosity in providing the grant for these

resources, Natural Resources Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges for funding the chick taxidermy and also

to Grainne, Renee and Meg for all their fabulous assistance.

FROM WESTERN AUSTRALIA

WEST AUSTRALIA HOODED PLOVER HIGHLIGHTS - REPRODUCED FROM WESTERN AUSTRALIAN BIRD

NOTES NO 157. ISSUE MARCH 2016.

Marcus Singor, Coordinator

Bumper breeding season for Cape to Cape Region (2015-2016).

Over the summer months volunteers have been busy checking out the beaches between Cape Naturaliste

and Cape Leeuwin. In the process many active nest sites were discovered and these were reported to the

Department of Parks and Wildlife who fenced the sites and installed signage. These measures helped safe

guard the nesting sites. Though predation and disturbance after fledging are still a major problem.

A total of 12 different breeding sites were located. Many of the nests were found in their traditional

locations confirming strong site fidelity. There were a number of second breeding attempts often made in

close vicinity of the first breeding attempt.

Scanned specimen ready for 3D printing

31

The breeding results for the Cape to Cape region - 2015-2016 are shown in Figure 1.

Figure: WABN Breeding Records 2015

The 2016-2017 breeding season for the Cape to Cape region has got off to a good start.

Breeding has been confirmed at Conto Beach, Skippy Rock and Gnarabup Beach.

Early November 2016 and the pair at Gnarabup Beach, Gas Bay have lost two clutches and are presently

sitting on their third clutch. The adults at Skippy Rock have been fighting off a Pacific Gull who seems

intent on picking off the three, week old runners, we are keeping our fingers crossed that they will

survive.

Busselton Hooded Plover project (2015-2016).

The City of Busselton coordinated a Hooded Plover monitoring project at the beaches within its jurisdiction

(from Eagle Bay to Wilyabrup). Volunteers monitored their beach once a fortnight from September 2015

Date Site Breeding status Fenced Breeding attempt Observer

7/12/2015 Boranup 2 Adults, nest 2 eggs Yes First-Unsuccessful Suzanne Trigwell

8/12/2015 Boranup 2 Adults

2/3/2016 Boranup 2 runners Second Ian Rooke

9/19/2015 Grunters 3 eggs Yes First-Unsuccessful Natalie Bell

10/14/2015 Grunters 3 chicks

11/6/2015 Grunters Yes Second Natalie Bell

12/21/2015 Grunters 2 Adults, 1 chick

9/8/2015 Skippy Rocks 1 Adult, 2 chicks First Leigh Carroll

12/29/2015 Skippy Rocks 2 Adults, 1 chick Second-Unsuccessful Jenny Kikeros

9/4/2015 Boodjidup 2 eggs Gene Hardy

9/22/2015 Redgate Nest - 2 eggs Yes First-Unsuccessful Peter Simmonds

12/18/2015 Redgate 1 chick Second Douglas Coughran

10/10/2015 Gallows 2 eggs Yes Wally Smith

10/29/2015 Gallows 2 Adults, 1 chick

12/17/2015 Gallows Adults and Juvenile

1/21/2016 Gallows Nest with 3 eggs Second Ernie Haggett

10/11/2015 Ellensbrook 1 Adult and 1 chick John Mckinney

11/6/2015 Margaret River Rivermouth 2 Adults, 2 eggs Yes First-Unsuccessful Natalie Bell

12/5/2015 Margaret River Rivermouth 2 chicks

1/1/2016 Margaret River Rivermouth Nest with 2 eggs Second Natalie Bell

10/30/2015 Hillview - Augusta 4 Adults and 3 juveniles Wally Smith

11/5/2015 Hamelin Bay 2 Adults, 1 egg DPaW

12/20/2015 Cowaramup 1 adult, 5 eggs Natalie Bell

1/5/2016 Cowaramup Nest with 4 eggs Ernie Haggett

1/16/2016 Cowaramup, South Point First-Unsuccessful Natalie Bell

12/28/2015 Bobs Hollow 2 Adults, 2 runners Mrs Simmonds

32 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

to April 2016. The aim was to identify which beaches within the boundaries of the City of Busselton were

still being used by Hooded Plover and on what beaches they still breed. Jackie Nichol is the Senior

Sustainability and Environment Officer from the City of Busselton and supervised the project. She worked

in close partnership with the Department of Parks and Wildlife and Birdlife Australia. Results are shown in

Figure 2. Volunteers have continued to monitor beaches into the current season.

City of Busselton Project 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016

Hooded Plover presence Sept Sept Oct Oct Nov Nov Dec Dec Jan Jan Feb Feb Mar

Siesta Beach A

Dunborough, Elmore A A A A A A A A A A A

Eagle Bay, Point Picquet A A A

Eagle Bay, Community Hall A A A A A A A A A A A

Eagle Bay, Rocky Point A A A A A A A A A A

Castle rock A A

Meelup A A A A A

Bunkers Bay A A A A A A

Gull Rock P P P P P

Cape Naturaliste A P A

Kabbijgup Beach A

Yallingup Beach A A A A A A A A A A

Smiths Beach, North P A A A P A A

Smiths Beach, South A

Wyadup A A A A A A

Injidup north A A P P A A A A

Cape Clairault P P P A

Quinninup

Moses Rock, South A A A A A A A

Moses Rock, North A

Willyabrup A

Gallows P P P P P P P P P A P Figure: Busselton Beaches Hooded Plovers Presence; P = present, A = absent, blank = not surveyed

Hooded Plover super clutch

Natalie Bell made an exceptional discovery on 20

December 2015 when she was visiting South Point

near Gracetown.

A Hooded Plover super clutch of five eggs was found.

There was nothing unusual about the nest location. It

was a relatively quiet area, but on a big swell there

can be people on the point watching surfers at the

South Point break. People do walk their dogs along

here and loop back to Gracetown via the Cape to

Cape track up on top of the dune.

We contacted the beach-nesting birds project

manager, Grainne Maguire for further information

about the super clutch.

Hooded Plover super clutch

33

Advice received was that it was likely a trio of 2 females and 1 male. The male mates with both and the

females lay 2-3 eggs in the clutch. There have been 2 instances of this on the Mornington Peninsula,

Victoria over the last few years - consistently 4-6 eggs nests.

Grainne banded some birds on one of the nests so we know they stayed together as a trio for several

years and all 3 adults raise the chicks as well.

Christine Fleay checked on the South Point nest on the 27th of December from 10 -11am. She located the

nest (still with 5 eggs) and 3 adults – one on the nest (bird 1), one nearby preening (bird 2) on the edge

of the sand/rocks and one on the rocks near the ocean approx. 40m from the nest (bird 3).

When Christine was in line with the nest bird 1 left the nest and paired up with bird 2. Bird 3 then also

appeared near the base of the rocks, and walked away. It moved cautiously towards the nest until it was

about 15m from nest. The pair then went into territorial mode and made ‘grunting sounds’ and chased off

bird 3 in flight. Observations made by Ernie Haggett on 5 January 2016 revealed that the clutch had

reduced to four eggs.

Jenny Kikeros and Jane Scott checked on the nest on 8 January 2016 and observed two adult birds

feeding about 20m west of the nest. They were between the nest and the rocks that lead to the ocean.

One bird was sitting on the nest. Three adults present. On 16 January 2016 the nest was gone. Natalie

Bell mentioned there was evidence of tracks and a scat at the nest location which were identified

belonging to a fox who likely predated the nest.

State survey 2017

The West Australian Hooded Plover population census will be conducted on Saturday 4 February and

Sunday 5 February 2017.

Acknowledgements.

Our volunteers are making an enormous contribution to Hooded Plover research in the Cape to Cape

region. Natalie Bell, Christine Fleay, Jenny Kikeros and Christine Wilder are to be commended for their

outstanding work.

The response by the Department of Parks and Wildlife to quickly install conservation measures once a

Hooded Plover nest has been located has been tremendous. Acknowledgements to DPAW staff, Peter

Simmonds, Clare Forward, John Prins and John McKinney.

Ehmke. G. and G. Maguire. 2011. MyHoodie. A guide to the amazing breeding lives of Hooded Plover.

Page 19.

Photo: Grainne Maguire

34 Word about the Hood - Edition 16

FAIRY TERNS

MYTERN: A POCKET GUIDE TO THE TERNS OF AUSTRALIA

Caroline Wilson, BirdLife Australia, Threatened Bird Network

BirdLife Australia’s Threatened Bird Network, in partnership

with the Beach-nesting Birds, Shorebirds 2020 and Important

Bird and Biodiversity Areas Projects, have developed a tern

booklet titled: MyTern: a pocket guide to the terns of Australia.

This booklet accompanies the MyHoodie booklet (an

information booklet of beach-nesting bird identification and

monitoring), and focuses of beach-nesting seabirds,

specifically tern species. MyTern can be used to help indentify

tern species (as they can look very similar to each other,

especially when flying or from a distance!) and provides

information on their ecology and threats, and how to get

involved as a registered BirdLife Australia volunteer to help

monitor and protect tern species. This booklet can be found

online: http://birdlife.org.au/projects/beach-nesting-birds/for-

volunteers or if you would like a hard copy, please contact

caroline.wilson@birdlife.org.au. We would like to thank the Ian

Potter Foundation for the generous funding for this booklet.

FAIRY TERN MONITORING IN WESTERN PORT AND PORT PHILLIP BAYS

Dr. Amy Adams, Fairy Tern Project Officer

BirdLife Australia recently received the exciting news of being awarded a TSPI Community Volunteer

Action Grant enabling a Fairy Tern project to be established for the 2016/17 breeding season in Victoria.

Fairy Terns are threatened in Victoria, with the number of breeding pairs estimated to be less than 150

and declining. As with other beach-nesting birds, the availability of suitable nesting sites along shorelines

and coastal beaches required by this colonial species are becoming increasingly limited due to habitat loss

and modification, with suitability of sites varying between years. As areas become less suitable for

nesting, sub-optimal or hazardous sites may be utilised by breeding pairs, impacting their breeding

success. Furthermore, the nesting behaviours of Fairy Terns exposes them to a variety of threats

including disturbance from human activities, nest inundation and predation pressures including from

domesticated pets.

The Fairy Tern project aims to improve the

suitability of nesting sites via monitoring Fairy

Terns and their breeding success throughout

Western Port and Port Phillip Bays. The

ecological characteristics of key sites including

the presence of threats at sites will be recorded

and evaluated, and where appropriate,

remedial work will be undertaken. It is

envisioned that by improving the

characteristics of Fairy Tern breeding habitat, it

will provide greater opportunities for breeding

and in turn bolster their overall limited

numbers. The Fairy Tern project wish to see

Fairy Terns persist and thrive in Western Port

and Port Phillip Bays, but it is unlikely to occur

without the monitoring and management of

their breeding and roosting sites.

Photo: Andrew Silcocks

35

The Fairy Tern project will need help monitoring Fairy Tern nesting colonies at sites within Western Port

and Port Phillip Bays over the next few months. The project is also interested in receiving any Terns within

Western Port and Port Phillip Bays that people may have recorded in their field notebooks. Reporting of

current Fairy Tern sightings will allow the project to follow up on the sightings, providing a better

understanding of movements, breeding success and habitat use, while historical records can help

determine trends in habitat use over time and highlight sites which may require management actions.

If you have any records of Fairy Terns or are interested in helping with the upcoming Fairy Tern

monitoring, please contact Amy Adams at amy.adams@birdlife.org.au or 03 9347 0757.

______________________________________________________________________________

BirdLife Australia’s Beach-nesting Birds Project is funded from a range of sources including the State Government of Victoria, Commonwealth Government, Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges NRM, Natural Resources Eyre Peninsula, Natural Resources Northern and Yorkes, Bill Holsworth, CoastCare Victoria and the generous donations of BirdLife Australia members and supporters.