To prevent the banded dotterel from disappearing from Hawke's Bay's beaches and raise awareness within our community about all shore nesting birds and other coastal species"
In 2022 a group of volunteers and keen birders set up the Save the Dotterel’s group to monitor 1.5 km of Hawke Bay beach front from the northern end of The Esplanade at Westshore to beach front adjacent to the Rotary pathway spanning from the end of Ferguson Street at Bayview.
Keen birder and member of Birds NZ Lynne Anderson says the dotterels have chosen to use the wide shingle beach in this area as a breeding site. “They arrive in July from winter feeding grounds and remain to breed into the following February – many pairs will nest twice in one season especially if the first nest failed.”
Lynne says local residents had observed a significant decline in the birds over the last few years and initiated this community exercise in partnership with Napier City Council and Forest and Bird.
All shore-nesting birds in New Zealand are under threat, Lynne says. Pohowera are endemic breeders to New Zealand and their national conservation status is “At Risk, Declining” or “Nationally and Regionally Vulnerable”.
Part of the problem is that the adults, their eggs and chicks, are very well camouflaged and therefore highly likely to be disturbed or destroyed by human activity. They not only need to cope with native predators such as black backed gulls, harrier hawks and NZ falcons; and introduced predators such as rats, mice, cats, dogs, stoats, hedgehogs and magpies; but also humans and vehicles on the beach.
The Save the Dotterel’s group gathered baseline data on the number of dotterels nesting and successfully raising chicks to fledging in the monitored area. They looked at the impact of fencing both permanent and additional temporary fencing erected around nests. Volunteers wearing bright orange printed vests were able to distribute printed leaflets, speak to passers-by and explain what all the signs and fences were about encouraging and engendering support.
