Hooded Plover - breeding cages

["Elizabeth Shaw" <>]

Hi all interested,

The Phillip Island Hooded Plover Watch have a variety of measures we have been putting into action over the last few years.  Cages have been a useful measure in some circumstances, but other steps have included:

• banning dogs on almost all beaches, especially those where Hooded Plovers have been recorded breeding,
• fencing off parts of the beach with a rope and notices explaining the reason,
• extensive public education through local papers and distribution of cards with information about Hooded Plovers (including one detailing the differences between Hooded Plovers and Masked Lapwings), 
• regular patrols of beaches during nesting times by Phillip  Island Nature Park rangers with authority to take dogs off the beach and hand them over to the Bass Coast Shire rangers, 
• volunteers patrolling beaches where Hooded Plovers are nesting or trying to raise young until fledging, especially on weekends and other busy times,
• banding of chicks hatched on any Phillip Island beach,
• regular patrolling of all beaches to locate nesting birds and those raising chicks to apply the above measures, and
• quarterly counts on all beaches (combined with a survey of Pacific and Kelp Gulls and other beach birds).

We are lucky to have the support of the Phillip Island Nature Park, who co-ordinate the research and protection programs and have recorded considerable success in improving the rate of survival of the chicks hatched on Phillip Island.  For further imformation contact Jon Fallaw or Peter Dann at PINP.  Jon's email address is
 

 

Elizabeth Shaw

Phillip Island,

Victoria.