Beach watch for birds

THE proposal in the public consultation period was developed by me for the Prosser River Mouth Advisory Committee, on which I am a community representative. After much research of programs locally and worldwide, I found best-practice examples with data showing success.

It became clear that on Crown Land/ public recreation reserves, a program that brought the public on board and involved them as neighbourhood watchers had the best results. Permanent fencing was not recommended by scientists and found to be counter-productive, whereas temporary barriers with high-quality, empathetic signage was known to work. At Scamander, 150km north, such a program has been in place for 10 years and has expert, council and public collaboration. The fencing cutting off access to the familyfriendly beach from the carpark does not enclose a bird sensitive area but impedes access to the beach. The fenced area on the east side of the sand spit did not help the fairy terns this 2019-20 breeding season because they chose a site to the west outside the fencing. My husband and I informed council staff and in a few hours a temporary fence and makeshift signage were up. Initial success indicated 30-plus breeding pairs may have been affected by a very high tide (1.37m) on January 12. We hope the nestlings were already mobile.

The 2018-19 breeding site within the fence was abandoned. Experts think this is because marram grass and boobialla invasion make it unsuitable as a fairy tern breeding site. Should fairy terns choose Millingtons Beach next season, the barriers and signs would be deployed. The shorebirds only need protection in nesting and fledging season and research shows the public then is sympathetic to losing access to beaches for the breeding season.

Rosemary Wood Sandy Bay