Beach patrols to keep hooded plovers safe

CONSERVATION Regulator officers are now keeping watch at Ocean Grove and other beaches across Victoria’s south-west to protect hooded plover chicks during their nesting season.

Officers have been patrolling shorelines and educating dog owners about how vulnerable the new chicks are to predators, including dogs.

If a threat comes along, such as an off-leash dog, the new chicks cannot escape as they are too young to fly.

Chicks can start to fly once they are five weeks old but, in the meantime, they forage for their food on beaches and along the water’s edge.

The new chicks are tiny, less than seven centimetres long and will appear on beaches throughout summer.

Conservation Regulator Forest and Wildlife officers will monitor local beaches – including Warrnambool, Port Fairy and Portland – until the end of March, when the hooded plover nesting
season ends.

Officers will be encouraging dog owners to keep an eye out for hooded plovers and associated nest fencing and signage, and ensure their pets are kept at a safe distance.

“Connecting with dog owners is key to reducing attacks on these tiny chicks – many owners are interested to find out more about this threatened species, and which locations of nesting sites they should keep dogs away from,” Barwon South West Forest and Wildlife officer Rob Bendon said.

“When dogs are running where the hooded plover chicks are, it’s so easy for dogs to accidentally trample the chicks or get excited and chase them – and unfortunately the chicks cannot fly from potential harm.”

The Conservation Regulator works with BirdLife Australia in protecting this species, as BirdLife Australia co-ordinates the monitoring of hooded plovers and works to maintain safe habitats through temporary fencing, signage and artificial shelters.

“Our volunteers are monitoring Hooded Plovers on beaches across Victoria’s south west and it’s very encouraging to see more Hooded Plover chicks along local shorelines than we had last year,” Dr Meghan Cullen from BirdLife Australia said.

“These beach-nesting birds need us to look out for them, particularly as our beaches become increasingly busy over the summer period.”

The Conservation Regulator investigates instances and reports of dogs harassing hooded plovers. Significant penalties apply for dog owners whose pets destroy or disturb these birds or their nests.

Under the Wildlife Act 1975, allowing a dog to attack or chase wildlife is a crime, and the offence can be subject to a fine of up to $4,130.

Last month, officers issued a $660 fine to a dog owner, whose dog disturbed a nesting site within a fenced-off area at Anna Catherine Reserve beach at Port Fairy.

Information relating to dogs chasing or harassing wildlife can be reported to Crime Stoppers confidentially on 1800 333 000.