Dot and Donald’s (NZ Dotterels) chicks have been flagged and are just over halfway to fledgling. The other Dotterels are still here. Our visitors include a wrybill, godwits, a returning and growing group of Oystercatchers, a couple of fairy tern, and royal spoonbills among others.
We had 7 NZ Dotterel eggs laid at Snells Beach, with 4 pair trying to nest, 3 pairs successfully creating nests this year. Of the three pair that nested, 3 eggs were abandoned due to an attack by a cat, 2 eggs lost to too much disturbance, and 2 have hatched! The two chicks would not have made it this far without assistance.
Michele has been busy with creating educational signs, working with council and others, and trying to protect our shore birds. We've had 3 pair of dotterels with nests in Snells Beach this year, two have been lost thus far. We hold some hope for the third, and there is a bit of hope one of the other two pair may try again. For those who have donated, either time, resources, or money thank you so much! I also wanted to let you know I'll shortly be putting a water colour painting of Dotterel Chick Munchkin on trademe to help raise funds for Michele, all funds will go to her. To bid search Trade Me art category for Dotterel chick Munchkin starting later today, 3 November.
Michele has been busy trying to educate people about our shorebirds, as well as protect the birds as nesting season is upon us.
The Godwits started arriving this last Sunday. We have three pair of Dotterels attempting to find nesting sites on Snells Beach. One dotterel laid very early (not on Snells) and already has chicks!
Thus far, in addition to helping pay for some of Micheles expenses we were able to raise enough for her to get her own binoculars to improve her ability to report on the birds.
Michele has also been working on some activities that teachers could use with their students at school!
Let's continue to support Michele and our birds!
Things have been a bit quiet around of late, that doesn't mean nothing has been happening. Michele Mackenzie has done presentations, been working with DOC and Auckland Council to further protections for our shore birds. Soon it will be breeding season again, and a bit of koha to help with costs would be appreciated.
Michelle has made and placed signs around regarding ABW one of our world-travelling Godwits!
She continues to work to protect some Dotterels in the area that laid eggs later in the season and are still incubating. Making a cordon and putting up signs around the nest.
She's also been busy putting together some presentations and meeting with people about our birds and how to protect them.
Thanks to those who have contributed thus far!
More updates to come!
Thank you all for your generous donations and kind words, it is great to know others care about the shore birds!
"We have a Ruddy Turnstone !!
A new species for Snells all the way from Siberia how exciting !!
This little bird is about the size of a Blackbird however stockier, with a tortoise shell pattern on its back and wings, a big black cravat, white underpants and orange tights on its short stocky legs.
I'm not sure where Ruddy comes from maybe its colour however Turnstone comes from its ability to turn over large stones, shells, seaweed and driftwood to get at sandhoppers etc, its known as quite the heavyweight lifter among our wading birds, the interesting thing too is they can work together to move a large object and though they don't have webbed feet they are good swimmers, wow our shorebirds are so fascinating !
They breed in Siberia and migrate to NZ for our summer, thats a long way, around 27,000 kms for quite a small bird, astonishing, heres a passage from NZ birds online about them.
(The ruddy turnstone is a circumpolar annual breeder on Arctic and subarctic tundra, mainly north of 60° N, making it one of the most northerly-breeding wader species. One bird was tracked in two consecutive years migrating from Alaska to Australia via the central Pacific and back to Siberia via the East Asian-Australasian flyway, each 'round trip' a journey of 27,000 km. A bird banded in Invercargill has been recorded on southward migration through Broome in north-west Australia during September in three successive years. This, along with tracks of birds flying south to Australia via coastal China and Indonesia, indicates some birds migrate along the same route before continuing on to New Zealand. After spending the austral summer in New Zealand ruddy turnstones are thought to fly to the Korean Peninsula in north-east Asia before flying on to Siberian breeding grounds ).
Its estimated that only around 1,000 to 2,000 birds come to NZ each summer, they have even been seen on the Chatham Islands, Miranda shorebird center only usually records 10 birds there over the entire summer and now we had one here, how awesome is that ! Our beach is so important for our shorebirds.
It was here on Saturday afternoon, they usually hang out close to Dotterels, it was feeding along the tide line, unfortunately it was when all those big black clouds came over so my photos aren't all that great, I hope you enjoy them though, please keep a look out for different birds or birds with bands/flags and let me know, with so many people now enjoying and looking at our amazing shorebirds I know we will find more, its so exciting.
That now brings our Shorebird species number to 28, 1 Hybrid and 8 Waterfowl, yee ha."
