Protecting shore birds from fishing lines
In the Shoalhaven we have three 3 endangered shorebirds: Pied Oystercatchers, LittleTerns and Hooded Plovers (not to be mistaken with Hooded Lapwings). National Parks Wildlife Service, with the support of Birdlife Australia, manage a Shorebird Protection Program recruiting volunteers from the local region. There are about 80 registered volunteers in the Shoalhaven.
Our Future Shoalhaven is helping this program by providing a better understanding of the importance of this program and the challenges these birds face. Many of these challenges are sadly worsened, often unintentionally, by those of us who are beach goers. OFS encourages some simple things everyone can do to help better protect the birds on our beaches.
There are 2 things we all need to do:
1. Pay attention and respect the signs at the entrances to our beaches and on the beach itself.
Special signs are installed at the entrances to beaches, as well as on the beach itself during the nesting season (Aug-Feb). Temporary fencing maybe put around a site with a nest and eggs.
Please give as wide a birth as possible where there are fences as the parent bird will get off the nest and try to distract any potential threat they see. The nests are in the sand and camouflaged by debris, it is very hard to see the eggs so it is important not to explore. Just your presence may be enough to keep the parent birds away letting the eggs get cold. Don’t go exploring as you could mistakenly walk on the eggs because of their camouflaged appearance.
The parents sit on the eggs for approximately 30 days. When the chicks hatch they very quickly move around with the parents and are visible to see from a reasonable distance. However, the parents will be very protective, tucking them underneath themselves when they perceive danger. The parent birds are likely to move the family to an area with lots of hiding places for the chicks within the first few days of hatching. The chicks instinctively know to hide in response to a parent’s command. So best to take binoculars to see the activity rather than going close to the family causing more stress.
If you ever see a bird in danger or injured, any issue with fences etc. please report it to Council or National Parks.
Council: 1300 293 111
National Parks and Wildlife Service: 1300 072 757
2. Take a bag and pick up rubbish and especially look for discarded fishing line, fish hooks, other tackle and bait bags.
Fishing line and hooks left on the beaches is one of the worst dangers for our shorebirds. Please take the time to untangle it and remove any you find. The fishing line can get caught around the birds and in their distress they get tightly tangled, causing serious injuries and death. It is a very common cause of shorebird deaths observed on our beaches and is heartbreaking to see.
Rotting bait is not nice to pick up, but if you have another bag or a plastic glove it would be great if you could remove this toxic waste. The bait attracts ravens who are predators of the shorebird eggs and chicks.
Macro and micro plastics on our beaches is becoming a bigger problem than ever before. This is dangerous to the birds and us. Every bit we pick up helps. OFS has a Plastic Catastrophe Project you might be interested in (click here).
If you see an abundance of plastic waste on any beach after a storm event or some other hazardous event please report it to Council (1300 293 111) or Booderee National Park (1800 357 823).
OFS recommends using the phone app SNAP SEND SOLVE. (www.snapsendsolve.com) this allows you to take a picture and send details to a centralized data site that distributes it to the appropriate Council immediately. You will receive fast feedback about the progress of your report. It is an efficient way to report community issues (not just rubbish) e.g. dumped cars, rubbish on roadside, fallen trees, broken signage, pot holes and other hazards etc.
Thank you for following OFS's projects; if you'd like to help with this particular Project text Sue 0414 856 965 for more details.