Patricia Gill, Denmark Bulletin

Walkers are asked to curb their dogs around incubating hooded plover chicks after a fence and signs warning of nesting parent birds were stolen at Lights Beach.

BirdLife Australia beach-nesting birds project officer Lisa Nicholson assured dog-walkers that the rope fence and signs were only temporary and the eastern side of Lights Beach would not be closed to dogs.

But Dr Nicholson, who regularly exercises her dog on the beach, said all beach-goers needed to learn to co-exist with ‘people pressure’ on beaches.

BirdLife Australia studies in Victoria from 2006 had demonstrated that beach-nesting birds and dogs could co-exist and the erection of the fence and signs at Lights Beach was according to scientific protocol.

Three eggs in the pair of hooded plovers’ nest in the foredune of the beach on the eastern side of Lights Beach were due to hatch this week.

A ‘wing’ barricade well clear of the nest now designates a safety line for dogs to keep clear of the birds who will need to access the waterline for feeding.

The barricade is also clear of where dogs and people usually walk.

Dr Nicholson said the chicks were vulnerable at this stage because they could not fly for four weeks from hatching.

This was the first time the hooded plovers had nested in the eastern side of Lights Beach; they usually nested on the western side which is closed to dogs.

Chicks from a nesting pair at Prawn Rock Channel had last year died due to interference from dogs.

Dr Nicholson said the fence and signs had been erected to give the hooded plovers every chance.

It was not possible for the hooded plovers, in general, to nest on other beaches because, like Lights Beach, these were all under ‘massive human pressure’.

“Even Walpole beaches which are four-wheel-drive access only are really busy at this time of the year,” Dr Nicholson said.

“If we want to have the beautiful biodiversity [sic]

“I feel it’s someone who’s opposed to having awareness of birds on a dog beach,” Dr Nicholson said.

“I get what they are thinking – ‘do we have to shut down our dog walking activities’?

“BirdLife Australia is not asking for that at all.”

As part of a beach-nesting birds awareness project, dog breakfasts will be held, possibly in the Lights Beach carpark and at the dog exercise area at Prawn Rock Channel. Free dog leads from BirdLife Australia will be handed out and treats given to dogs plus breakfast cooked for humans in December and January.

This article appeared in the Denmark Bulletin, 12 October 2023.