David
The failures are due to a range of factors and dog disturbance and foxes are
only just 2 of these.
Some of the other factors are:
The nature of Koonya east & west ocean beaches
Really high tides reach right up to the dunes [and sometimes up them!!]
which results in nests being washed away, people walking at the base of the
dunes to avoid the water can trample nests or chicks and chicks heading
towards the waters edge to avoid people or dogs getting washed away.
Predators
It is always assumed that foxes are the main problem however I really have
no idea what effect they are having on the birds. We do have records of
Silver Gulls and Nankeen Kestrels taking chicks.
Humans
The beaches are heavily visited by people who ignore any 'Temporary Beach
Closure' signs, run through the dunes, maybe pickup eggs from nests and just
by being on the beach can cause a real disturbance problem when the chicks
are less than a week old and need to be brooded regularly and feed often.
Horrific weather - as experienced a few times this breeding season
Not sure about this - bad weather whilst probably creates more challenges to
the birds [and their observers] does keep people off the beaches !!
Cheers
Val
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