NEW Zealand Dotterels at Awana: This summer there were usually five adult dotterels in residence at Awana including one breeding pair, the female banded White/Orange on its left leg.

In early December Maaka McCandless and Reuben Kendal, working for the Awana Catchment Trust, put a tape fence around a dotterel nest with three eggs situated on the high sand in the middle of the beach. About the 13th the eggs disappeared. On the 15th a single chick was spotted. There were a few other possible sightings, but the beach was heavily populated by campers and surfers over the Christmas-New Year period, and we feared the worst. However, it seems that the parents were hiding their three chicks up in the dunes. By mid January they were feeding in the estuary, by January 27th all three chicks were flying, and by the 30th, they (plus parents) had gone – presumably to join the post-breeding flock on Whangapoua estuary.

Despite total breeding failures over the last two summers, since (and including) 1999/2000 a total of 11 NZ Dotterel chicks are known to have fledged from Awana. This can be compared with 7 between 1991 and 1998. While this looks encouraging, the figures equate to only 1.0 fledged chick per pair per year in the 1990s and 1.2 this millennium. The GBI population seems to be just holding its own, but nesting in summer on the beach means that they will remain endangered until we all make an effort to share their space respectfully.