BirdLife Top End host 'Farewell Shorebirds' event at Lee Point within Casuarina Coastal Reserve
BirdLife Top End event attendees recently celebrated the migratory shorebirds as they prepare to leave the Northern Territory’s coastline after the wet season, and head back into the northern hemisphere. Park rangers assisted by conducting compliance patrols in the area to make sure dog owners in the area were obeying the park rules and not disturbing the birds.
On the afternoon of Saturday 9 March, BirdLife Top End (volunteer branch of Birdlife Australia) hosted a public event at Casuarina Coastal Reserve to celebrate the timing of the migratory shorebirds departure on their long flight back to the northern hemisphere.
The birds arrived in approximately September last year and have been known to annually use the reserve to rest and recover over the Northern Territory wet season months. The birds are known to travel between Australia, New Zealand, China, Russia and Alaska. The birds include up to 25 species, including the vulnerable Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris).
The stretch of beach in Casuarina Coastal Reserve between Sandy Creek and Buffalo Creek is estimated to support up to 10,000 migratory shorebirds between the months of September and March and is recognised as an internationally important site.
Event goers went on short walk and were encouraged to observe and appreciate the birds from a respectful distance and observe through binoculars, telescopes or camera. Event organisers from BirdLife Top End also held talks and information sessions on the birds during the event.
NT Parks and Wildlife park rangers assisted the event by conducting extra compliance before and during the event to help ensure that the birds were not impacted by dogs and their owners doing the wrong thing. The section of beach from Lee Point to Buffalo Creek is a no dog area due to the ecological importance of the area for the migratory shorebirds. The section of beach at Sandy Creek requires dogs to be on-lead and between Sandy Creek and Lee Point to be under-control.
Rangers started the compliance patrols at 3:30 pm when the tide was at 5.5m and was on the way up and was done with a combination of on-foot and All Terrain Vehicle patrols, focusing on areas between Sandy Creek and Buffalo Creek. It’s even more important to have dog activity compliance during high tide due to the reduced area of beach the shore birds are restricted to, which could lead to elevated disturbance and stress if there is any interaction with dogs using the same space.
The rangers reported back any sightings of the shorebirds to the event organisers before it started at 4:30 pm. Buffalo Creek area was very busy with fishers keen to catch a million dollar barra on the perfect tides on the day, and aside from people attending the Farewell Shorebird event there were also many other members of the public out on the beach between Lee Point Rocks and Sandy Creek.
Much to the relief of event organisers and rangers, everyone was adhering to the rules on the day, except for one person at the Buffalo Creek carpark who had a dog and was provided educational advice by rangers, and was directed to leave the area, along with their dog.
All up, it was a great event by all accounts and a great way to see so many different user groups using the popular spot together.
For future events and information regarding birds in the Darwin area, Go to the BirdLife Top End Facebook page.
