The endangered little tern breeding colony at Sawtell has enjoyed a bumper season this summer with an estimated 50 or more chicks successfully fledging at the site.
With the birds now headed on their 6000 kilometre annual migration to the northern hemisphere, National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Area Manager Glenn Storrie has praised the Sawtell community for the successful season.
‘Migratory little terns returned to the regionally significant shorebird breeding site on the sand spit within Bongil Bongil National Park, south of Sawtell Headland, in December last year and slowly began to build in numbers, said Mr Storrie.
‘They were joined this year by 3 breeding pairs of endangered pied oystercatchers and a rare event of a pair of endangered sooty oystercatchers setting up a nest on the sandy beach.
‘An occasional pair of endangered beach stone curlews were also seen on the Spit but no breeding activity occurred.
‘NPWS staff fenced off the breeding site and erected signs requesting park visitors keep clear of the area when the number of nests approached 40 in mid-December.
‘The nests were widely spread, and over 700 metres of temporary fencing was required to mark out and fence the vulnerable area.
‘We were expecting a very busy summer with visitors to the national park due to COVID impacts restricting wider travel, but the big wet over the Christmas/New Year kept some people at home, and this consequentially benefited the nesting birds by limiting human disturbances’, said Mr Storrie.
The east coast low and accompanying heavy rain and high Xmas tides that hit the Coffs Coast late in the year thankfully did not inundate the Bongil Spit little tern nesting colony, but unfortunately the nearby Nambucca River mouth little tern breeding colony was completely washed out.
‘Coffs Coast Area field staff, who keep a close eye on the colony over the summer season, reported a high level of community support for our shorebird conservation work this year.
‘The birds clearly benefited from the 4 months of feral animal control work targeting foxes that was implemented in the national park prior to the birds’ arrival.
The site also produced 2 pied oystercatcher fledglings and both sooty oystercatcher chicks fledged due to some expert loving attention from their wary parents.
‘Sooty oystercatchers are known to favour rocky foreshores for nest sites, especially on off shore islands, so it was a rare and special event this summer to not only host a sooty nest on the Bongil Spit, but to see both eggs hatch and lead to 2 healthy offspring.
‘Coffs Coast Area NPWS staff are grateful for the continued and strong support of our local Sawtell community for our shorebird recovery program. This great result is, in no small part, due to the conservation support provided by our park neighbours and visitors,’ said Mr Storrie.
