Hi All, here is another installment from Jodie Dunn, South Coast Shorebird
Recovery Coordinator. Things are heating up on the south coast
Hi Everyone
The craziness continues with Little Terns nesting at Lake Conjola, Lake
Wollumboola and Windang. At Conjola there are about 40 adults with 19 nests.
However two were abandoned and a third was inundated in big seas and tides. The
electric fence is now up to protect the eggs from the problem fox still in the
area. But some sand bagging may be needed to protect a few more nests from the
sea. At Wollumboola there are between 50-70 adults with about 20 nests so far
and plenty more to come, I suspect. They are spread out all over the place
making it very difficult for us to fence them all. Hopefully we will get an
electric fence up next week around the main area and the rest will rely on nest
cages for protection. At Windang all the effort by NPWS and the Lake Illawarra
Authority may be finally paying off. The LIA had a ‘Bird Island’ constructed as
compensatory habitat. We now have 6 nests on the island and about 16 adults
hanging around. The LIA have dredged the channel again to maintain the
isolation of the island from the mainland and the local volunteers and I have
put up signs and fences to protect the nesting birds. The vegetation is
developing well and hopefully our first chicks will hatch next week! A great
effort by everyone involved.
More Pied Oystercatcher fledglings! The two chicks at Lake Conjola are now
flying. This brings the south coast tally up to five. The pair at Narrawalllee
have renested after losing 2 chicks earlier in the season. We are still waiting
for our chick at Shoalhaven Heads to fly, should be very soon. At least one
chick remains of the two in Burrill Lake and he should fly soon too.
The Hooded Plover chicks will be hatching out down at Murramarang National Park
any day now. They have managed to avoid detection by local ravens so hopefully
we will have 3 new chicks soon. At Murramarang Aboriginal Area a Hoody pair is
still sitting on 3 eggs protected from Ravens and the roaming fox by a nest
cage. At Ulladulla a pair is sitting on 2 eggs also in a protective cage. This
beach is a problem with off leash dogs, despite being a leashed area. When the
chicks hatch out I start pulling my hair out. Increased Shoalhaven City Council
patrols on this beach over the next month would be much appreciated to help
protect the vulnerable chicks. At Narrawallee Inlet two beautiful chicks
hatched out last week. At least one remains. I believe the other was lost to
the problem fox in the area. The Conjola pair have hatched out two chicks at
Manyana. The third egg did not hatch. When we first discovered the nest it had
already been visited by a dog whose footprints revealed that he had picked up
the egg and dropped it a few metres away, causing a small crack in the egg.
Disappointingly this must have killed the embryo despite our placing it back in
the nest. The Berrara pair had a third adult hanging around so despite a few
scrapes it seems like they are still trying to decide who gets the girl. The
little Hoody with the broken leg has survived to fledge in Booderee National
Park. The ranger for the area, Tony Carter saw the family just a few days ago
and amazingly the chick has fledged despite his disability. He should be Ok now
and easily recognisable.
We undertook another visit to the Sooty Oystercatchers on Brush Island. A few
weeks ago there were 55 birds on the island with only 2 one egg nests. We
thought they might be running late or have already lost their nests to a
predator such as a Swamp Harrier. This second visit again revealed a lot of
adults with 5 nests. We will hopefully visit again in a few weeks to monitor
their progress. Penguins were spread all over the island in densities not seen
previously. They have responded well since the eradication of introduced rats
from the island just over two years ago. On the southern islands (Wasp,
Grasshopper and Tollgates) every pair of Sooties had a nest or chicks.
Excitingly Snapper Island in Batemans Bay had 2 breeding pairs, one with a two
egg nest and the other with chicks. I also assisted the far South Coast
Shorebird Coordinator, Amy Jorgensen on a survey of Montague Island. This
survey found about 14 breeding pairs, many had eggs or chicks but their were a
few pairs with no nests. It’s a beautiful island to visit. Birds galore, with
Silvergulls, Crested Terns and Little Penguins nesting everywhere.
Jodie
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