Public transport users on the State’s south-east coast could find themselves travelling with shorebirds this Spring as the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) kicks off a new campaign.
Shorebird Ranger for NPWS, Annemarie Mueller said the Four ways to share the shore bus campaign feature little terns, hooded plovers and pied oystercatchers, reminding Shoalhaven locals and visitors that the birds shared the shoreline too.
“We have seen the first shorebird nests on our beaches this season and soon we’ll start seeing images of them on the sides of buses around Nowra and Ulladulla,” Ms Mueller said.
“Weaving through traffic will be reminders to protect shorebirds by walking on the wet sand, leashing dogs and respecting signage around nests,” she said.
“These simple actions can influence the safety and wellbeing of breeding pairs as well as their eggs and chicks as they start their lifecycle along our coast this spring.”
Ms Mueller said shorebirds laid their eggs in the sand, often in the foredunes or estuary entrance bars up and down the coast, but “regardless of where they lay their nest, whether in a national park or not, these birds are protected species.”
She said there were a range of threats that shorebirds had to navigate to achieve breeding success.
“Some are beyond our control like inundation caused by big swells, heavy rain or king tides,” she said.
“Other threats are within our control such as limiting disturbance to breeding habitat,” the Shorebird Ranger said.
“This is something the whole community can do to contribute to the shorebird breeding success,” Ms Mueller said.
