Npws Seeks Volunteers To Help Shorebirds

[daleyboy]

Media release: 19 November 2008

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is urgently seeking volunteers to help in community efforts to reverse a longer term fall in the number of threatened and endangered shorebird species which are just starting to nest on the Far South Coast.

Volunteers have been the backbone of the NPWS Shorebird Recovery effort for the past decade and have made a huge impact in helping to stall the decline of species such as the threatened Little Tern.

NPWS Shorebird Recovery coordinator for the Far South Coast, Amy Harris, said today that without volunteers shorebirds would really struggle.

"The nesting season is well and truly underway in this part of the world with Pied Oystercatchers and Hooded Plovers already breeding along many beaches and within a number of key estuaries."

"Some already have hatchlings though many eggs are yet to hatch."

"The big issue for shorebirds is that they breed in the same space that people like to play at around the same time of the year - on beaches and sand spits. To make things more difficult they lay eggs which are speckled and really well camouflaged to blend in with the shell grit, seaweed and debris that washes up on the shoreline. So often people and their pets can interrupt nesting on a beach or sand spit without really knowing."

"With people, dogs, foxes, crows, gulls, storms and big tides the challenges for shorebirds are significant."

"This is where volunteers come in. They help us set up fenced off areas, post signs and some just spend days taking turns watching over nesting groups of birds, explaining things to locals and visitors and reminding people to keep pets under control."

"The beaches are just going to get busier in the weeks ahead so volunteers play a critical role in helping shorebirds have a successful breeding season."

"Little terns are just starting to arrive from South East Asia and northern Australia to start breeding. Sightings of Little Terns have already occurred at numerous sites along the NSW South Coast including Congo Creek, Tuross Lake, Mogareeka and Wallagoot Lake with nesting likely to occur at these sites within the near future."

The NPWS is looking to involve the community in the program "we are looking for as many people as we can find because many hands makes light work and the shorebirds really need all the help they can get," Mrs Harris said.

For more information about the threatened shorebirds and how you can become a volunteer contact Amy Harris on 44760834 or Jodie Dunn on 44549516