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A group of conservationists from around the Coast have come together to protect nesting NZ dotterels on Waiwera beach.
Although there have been dotterels on the beach for years, and people have watched over them, the minders group was only recently formed, after a cat took one of the precious chicks.
In previous years, breeding success has been poor and only one chick fledged in the 2022/23 season.
The new minders group hopes to change all that, and so far is having notable success.
Kate Harland lives opposite the beach. She says looking after the rare birds is a real community effort that includes students from Riverhead School where she works, making signs to alert the public. Restore Hibiscus & Bays, and DOC also assist by trapping stoats, rats and possums.
There are more than 27 volunteers on the Waiwera Dotterel Minders facebook page. Until the chicks fledge, their work includes two overnight shifts, dusk-2am, and 2am-dawn, chasing domestic cats away. They have also fenced off the nesting areas, put up signs, and raise the nests when storms or high tides approach.
This season, their hard work has been rewarded with an initial five chicks hatched by three breeding pairs – which is more than other local dotterels, at Manly/Tindalls and Shakespear Regional Park, have managed this season.
It hasn’t been easy though – two of the Waiwera pairs had two goes at nesting, and the other is on its third nest. Three chicks died – two possibly from gull predation or natural causes. The other was killed by a cat on its first night after hatching.
That is what spurred Alistair Owens, of Hatfields Beach, to start a more official Dotterel Minders Group, connecting with others with the assistance of Auckland Council.
He says only managed populations of dotterels result in breeding success high enough to sustain a population.
A minimum average of 0.5 chicks per year, per breeding pair, for three years is required to sustain a population. The NZ national average for managed sites is 0.6 and unmanaged sites 0.23.
“Conservation is about building community – you can’t have one without the other,” Alistair says.
It is largely an educative process. The beach is a dog-free area, but there is not 100 percent compliance and dogs are a big threat to the breeding birds.
Cats from nearby homes are also a big concern. Alistair says the next step is that it’s time for a cat strategy – “in a country where the wildlife is birds, it’s long overdue,” he says.
Alistair reports that the two surviving chicks are doing well, and another two hatched last week.
With four chicks to care for, the group is seeking more volunteers to watch the birds at night (11pm-5am) and keep cats away. Training will be given. If interested, message Alistair Owens via the group’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/groups/221446177617768
Long wait for dotterel hatch The Manly/Tindalls dotterel volunteers are watching closely with their fingers crossed to see if the one egg that has resulted from this season’s activities will hatch. The group expected the chick to hatch around Christmas, but Jenny Hanwell of Forest and Bird says although that didn’t happen, the fact that the birds continue to sit on and defend the egg is a positive sign. “They may know something we don’t and if it isn’t viable they would likely have abandoned it,” she says. She says support for the dotterels continues to grow, and most beach users are very respectful of the signs and give the birds some space. “Unfortunately someone has been seen driving a ute on the beach recently and also letting their dog get far too close,” she says. Volunteers are also reminding people that when the birds run up to them they aren’t being “friendly”, they are trying to tell them to keep away from the nest. This will increase if and when the egg hatches as they use a “broken wing” decoy behaviour to distract from chicks.
