Those who have laboured long and hard to protect the endangered NZ dotterels that have attempted to breed on the beach at Ahipara over a number of years have had to display considerable persistence, but now their efforts finally appear to be paying off.
A milestone was reached early thisyear when a reserve was formally declared over a stretch of beach from the Kaka Street access west, but the real source of excitement is the four dotterels that have appeared to have settled there permanently.
Five chicks fledged last year, Doug Klever, one of the driving forces behind the reserve and the efforts to protect the birds, said earlier this week, and while no one knew where they might have gone in the interim he was quietly confident that they would be back for the coming breeding season.
It would be six weeks before this year's eggs were laid, he added, but work was already well in hand to create as welcoming, and as safe, an environment as possible, including the judicious placing of driftwood on the beach. The sign marking the reserve status of the beach near Kaka Street was still doing its job, Mr Klever said, adding that it wasn't too difficult to imagine that the dotterel pictured was taking guard on its patch.
The population of the NZ dotterel (aka tuturiwhatu, NZ plover) is currently estimated at around 1700, but the bird's nesting habits don't do it many favours. Eggs are laid in little more than a scrape in the sand, making them highly vulnerable to predation, storms, vehicles and even careless feet.
The protectors of the birds at Ahipara are hopeful that the declaring of the sanctuary will give the birds a better chance of establishing a permanent a breeding colony, although the request not to drive on that part of the beach has not been universally welcomed.
