Right and easy, rarely the same thing

Heartbreaking morning. Half way through the nesting and a predator took the eggs, third time over two years. The bird was not on nest because something it perceived as a threat chased it off. Taking advantage of the parents being away, a predator came in and, boom, gone. This time probably a raven as the broken eggs turned up a few days later.

This picture taken just below the high tide line. Someone had walked their dog past the nesting site just before the dawn. How do you know? Tide charts tell you where the water laps at what time of day and prints don't survive past a high tide. Not a hard calculation.

Our pied oystercatchers, generally so quiet, have been calling for most of the morning. More calls than they generally do all year.

Your heart goes out to them. All their problems are man made, what can we do to reverse their ever declining numbers in NSW? If we don't find an answer then the problem will spread State to State as people population numbers keep increasing and expanding more into the beach bird nesters space along with the urban foxes that accompany them.

Contrary to some opinion, they are not common birds on the beaches around Bulli (Illawarra Bird Observers Club claim this is not true) and there aren't lots of people with dogs throughout the majority of the day on those beaches.

Oystercatchers certainly are not breeding there as beach nesting birds require the help of fence lines when on a busy beach to show people where they are to prevent the eggs being stepped on.

Most of the beaches around Bulli have time restrictions on when you can walk your dog, on lead only, and there are only a very few hours where it is possible. There is only one beach that allows off lead access around Bulli.

http://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/services/household/pets/Documents/Dogs%20on%20Beaches%20and%20Parks%20Brochure.pdf

The birds nesting here has not resulted in even one person being asked to leave the Deeban Spit beach. It is a space that everyone can enjoy. There is a space required by the birds to have the right every human has, to breed, and is very easy to walk around. It looks a lot bigger when taking pictures above the site at Pacific Crescent, than actually being on the beach and walking around it.

On busy weekends volunteers are around the fence lines to let curious people that want to ask questions know that the fence lines are there to protect endangered birds that have laid eggs directly on the beach, and without them the eggs could be accidentally stepped on. People are then asked to walk along the front edge of the beach, rather than creek side, so as not to disturb the nesting birds.

Nobody complains. Many are complimentary that somebody takes the time out of their day to help people know, that with a very small effort on their part, they can contribute to help protect an endangered species.

The fence lines are required as volunteers can't sit there every minute of every day. The area taken up by the birds is small in relation to the entire beach, it is hardly a big ask on their behalf.

The Bundeena residents that have come by and asked what is happening were surprised that birds nest on the beach and were supportive of the efforts. Some of them were misinformed thinking the birds abandoned nest last year. There were quite a few that were thankful of the efforts being undertaken to catch the fox as they were sick of having their chickens taken.

Is it only NIMBY's that are wildlife protectors? A complete animal lover, no species excluded, but...

Pied oystercatcher populations between the built up areas of Newcastle through to Wollongong are all in decline, with many beaches no longer seeing any. Some people may be confusing them with Sooty Oystercatchers, which are remarkably similar minus the white flash. They breed on rocky outcrops rather than open beaches so are more plentiful.

The pied oystercatchers problems are man made, so it is our problem to fix. If we go with the adage of "survival of fittest" then there won't be anything left on the planet but us and whatever we choose as a companion animal or suitable food.

What happens when the introduced pests, like foxes, feral cats and wild dogs, run out of native animals? They need to hunt a few kilos of food a day. Foxes are not dogs. They don't have someone to feed them and take them to the vet and can't just go to the supermarket to buy food. They are natural born hunters.

I have never felt so much shame as when I read a comment that the endangered pied oystercatcher eggs should be left to fend for themselves, no fences, because it makes the place look ugly and untidy.

I've talked with some of the Maianbar ratepayers whose houses pay the premium prices for the waterfront views overlooking the nest site. Not many up that way on the waterfront are permanent residents. Finding the person that is an occasional weekender is difficult. Those residents I've manged to talk with are positive on our efforts to save the birds.

The Oystercatchers will do another nesting within the next month. Nature has programmed them to try again.

They can breed for 20 years. Can you imagine what it would be like sitting there watching them doing the bird equivalent of miscarrying, twice a year for the next 18 years if we aren't allowed to help them?

We have a lot of resources to refer to to help us manage events such as big tidal events.

We aren't doing it alone. In the unlikely event that big tides and swells line up it is a relatively easy fix. Things are left to their own devices until a really unusual event is forecast, and then things are left to the last minute because disturbance around a nesting site is a very bad thing as it may cause the birds to abandon the nest. It is a truly a last minute, eggs will be lost anyway if we don't try anything, defence. There really is such a thing as killing something with kindness.

Our birds, being better accustomed to people than some birds on other beaches, are likely to react positively to the help and not abandon, but we won't know until it happens.

They sit there ever so patiently as the fence line is erected around them. It is quite surprising considering what the written manuals tells you. We have very good birds to work with.

Each time our birds try to nest we learn, as do they.

We've mostly cracked the human interference problem with the perimeter fence (except for the occasional hold out dog walker).

We are keeping the beach super clean removing bait bags, left over food and discarded bait. Reducing the food load on the beach is a good start to discouraging foxes from visiting. If we can catch those foxes that have beach visits as part of their habit, then our Oystercatchers have a good chance.

There is Southern Sydney Fox Control Program that we are contributing to. The scat on the beach around the nesting site is collected and sent off for analysis to a program sponsored by the Sydney Coastal Council Groups through funding from the Australian Government. So far only 1 out of 4 scat collections has been from a fox rather than a domestic dog.

It is only our second year. We are a long way behind the eight ball compared to a lot of sites on the South Coast, they were going backwards before they started going forwards.

For Pete Seeger and The Byrds fans and for fans of mondegreens, our theme song for the moment is: "Learn! Learn! Learn! (To Everything There Is A Season), A time for peace, I swear it's not too late.