April – Turning tides!

Finally summer is completely gone and with that the Reef starts looking a bit different. The Pacific Golden Plovers have departed, as predicted, to their northern breeding grounds. Thanks to the more than fours years of data collection we now know that these Plovers migrate en masse in April. Red-necked Stints have presented a very low count with only three individuals, one of them banded in Bohai Bay, China. As most birds leave Australia, Double-banded Plovers have commenced their arrival from NZ with six individuals. We’ll be soon venturing into the coldest months when monitoring becomes critical to count juvenile overwintering birds, which helps us understand breeding success from last year.

Red-necked Stints feeding in the rock platform. The banded bird was initially caught in Bohai Bay, China. © Mark Young 2012.

Red-necked Stint. © Mark Young 2012.

March – Where have the Stints gone?

We have finally had a day with beautiful weather at the reef and birds in sign of migration. With a team of six citizen scientists, waders were counted with nice and unusual results. Pacific Golden Plovers were still in high numbers with two individuals displaying their spectacular partial breeding plumage. In addition, we had the highest count of Grey-tailed Tattlers in records since 2007, with seven individuals and at least one of them displaying the characteristic banded breast of birds acquiring breeding plumage. On another note, Red-necked Stints had an unusual low count for this time of the year. A total of 20 birds of this species was recorded, which means they have declined by 78% since February and by 85% since January. If this decline was associated with an unusual early departure to their breeding grounds, we would expect a similar pattern at Boat Harbour, close to Botany Bay. This site is very similar to our Reef and harbours comparable diversity and abundance of shorebirds. To our surprise, the observed trend at that site does not support the idea of an earlier departure since this species has declined there only by 50% since February and by 70% since January. Perhaps other local factors play a role determining the abundance of Stints at the Reef and their fluctuations at this time of the year. This finding demonstrates once again how much we still have to learn and the need of long-term monitoring programs.

Long Reef Waders stall at Dee Why Beach. © Leonie Maddigan 2012.

A couple of weeks before the count, on 26^th February, our team held a stall at Warringah’s Water Wonderland Festival, which attracted a crowd of locals fascinated by the biodiversity available at their doorstep. Thanks to all the volunteers who came to support the event, new members were recruited and the general public engaged to raise awareness about the importance of the Reef.

February – Stint coincidence?

With a great team of 10 citizen scientists gambling to the weather forecast, a partial count was conducted in the middle of a downpour. Numbers were obtained on Saturday  for Grey-tailed Tattlers, Ruddy Turnstones, Sooty Oystercatchers and all four species of Cormorants. On Sunday, a count of the remaining species was conducted with an interesting finding. Red-necked Stints have presented an almost identical pattern between January and February for two years in a row, with numbers dropping from 133 to 93 last year and from 137 to 91 this year. This decrease trend, which has been consistent for four years out of five, may be a coincidence. However, it may also indicate an underlying pattern of the phenology of their migration, suggesting these tiny birds start departing to the northern hemisphere sometime between January and February.

Sooty Oystercatcher roosting on the spit. © Peter Morgan 2012.

January – Kicking off our fifth year!

Despite this wet summer put us off on our scheduled date, we have completed our first count of the year successfully. With three volunteers, team effort has paid off once again with the Stints behaving oddly. These tiny birds have been spreading lately over the rock platform in the northern section, where boulders hide them. Therefore, we split the team making sure we could count the birds from different angles reducing the chances of missing some or double counting them. Numbers of Red-necked Stint are still on the rise, having reached 137 in January from 126 in December. We had the highest count of Pacific Golden Plover in records with 16 individuals spread across the roosting rocks. Ruddy Turnstones were present in good numbers with 20 birds, whereas Grey-tailed Tattlers may have left the area as none was recorded.

December – Wrapping up a great year!

A great team effort made possible the last 2011 count at the reef. Initially there was a bit of frustration as a fisherman had flushed the birds away. Thus most birds were in the far rocks where they hide and blend very well making any count highly inaccurate. As the tide was receding, another fisherman walking past the far rocks flushed all birds back on to the main roost site, which created excitement and the hope of a good count. With the birds split into three different flocks on the roosting rocks, some feeding and some roosting, our team of citizen scientists was split too enabling a quick and accurate count of all birds. Red-necked Stints and Pacific Golden Plovers have increased since November, whereas Ruddy Turnstones and Grey-tailed Tattlers have decreased. With summer birds may now start settling down at least for a couple of more months before they start their migration again.

Red-necked Stint feeding at Long Reef. This bird was initially banded in Bohai Bay, China, over 8.000 km from Long Reef. © Alfred Schulte 2011.

November 2011 – Four years collecting data monthly!!

Despite a few hiccups to conduct November’s count, we finally made it with tremendous results. A Terek Sandpiper was recorded on the outcrop where the birds roost, very close to the Pacific Golden Plovers and Ruddy Turnstones. This species is recorded in low numbers at Botany Bay where there are soft sediments. Since rocky substrates are not prime habitat for it, it is very likely the observed bird was just passing through. Another highlight of the day was a group of four Red Knots in non-breeding plumage, feeding voraciously in the shallows close to the outcrop. The usual species were present in good numbers, with Red-necked Stints reaching 100 individuals, Ruddy Turnstones 20, Pacific Golden Plovers 9, Sooty Oystercatchers 7 and Grey-tailed Tattlers 5.

Red Knots feeding at low tide in the shallows adjacent to the rocky outcrop. © Alfred Schulte 2011.

As you may know the Shorebirds 2020 project, from Birds Australia, has again secured funding from the federal government which is great news for these amazing birds. This achievement means our data can be properly analysed, along with information from other 150 sites across the country where volunteers like us collect data. Due to the long-generation spans of these birds and their migratory lifestyle, it is estimated datasets start to be meaningful only after five years. This seems to be a challenge, but it’s worth the effort as we can keep contributing to long-term monitoring of their populations, thus informing conservation policy.

October 2011 – Birds and Whales on migration

Good news from Long Reef as birds return in good numbers. After our worries with Red-necked Stints during the winter counts, birds have finally returned increasing from 38 to 93 since September. On the other hand, Pacific Golden Plovers and Ruddy Turnstones have remained steady at 9 and 18 birds respectively.

Red-necked Stins flying at Long Reef. © Peter Morgan 2011.

There was a great participation of citizen scientists with 11 people turning up and avidly collecting important information to monitor these amazing birds. A good mixture of well-established volunteers and newcomers made this count once again possible. By putting together everyone’s expertise, we are ensuring accurate identification of species and reliable count of birds in our dataset. An amazing day like this at the reef could just finish with a pod of three playful Humpback Whales breaching not far from the platform.

September 2011 – First spring count

Our first spring count saw all regular summer visitors to the reef with clear signs of birds returning from their breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere. The shorebird species recorded included: Sooty Oystercatcher, Pacific Golden Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, Grey-tailed Tattler and Red-necked Stint. In all the migratory species there were individuals with partial breeding plumages, especially spectacular in one Pacific Golden Plover which displayed the contrasting black and golden pattern.

With the new season the reef has now changed the species present on it and their abundances. For instance, while Double-banded Plovers have departed to New Zealand, Red-necked Stints have returned with 38 individuals after being completely absent during part of winter. Our current count of Red-necked Stints is a bit lower than the average of 54 birds from September counts in previous years. It is still premature to draw any conclusion from this difference, but need for continued long-term monitoring becomes evident.

Attendance was fabulous with 10 citizen scientists turning up for the count and the talk delivered by Phil Colman. Phil’s wealth of knowledge is an incredible opportunity to increase our understanding of how shorebirds interact with other forms of life at this rock platform. Through his incredible book we can now have part of his expertise in our hands every time we visit not just Long Reef, but any rock platform in temperate Australia. Thanks again to everyone for contributing to conduct another important count. For more information about Phil’s book go to: http://www.groundtruthconsulting.myob.net/

Red-necked Stints in partial breeding plumage with a Ruddy Turnstone on the left. © Mark Young 2011.

August 2011 – No Stints

Numbers and diversity were still low during our last winter count, with five Ruddy Turnstones, two Grey-tailed Tattlers and three Double-banded Plovers featuring. This count has confirmed the completely absence of overwintering Red-necked Stints at the reef for the first time in records. We do not know at this stage the reason for this change, as migratory shorebirds occur over such large areas. However, possible causes could include dispersal to other habitats available elsewhere in Australia during winter as a result of increased rainfall, higher levels of disturbance at the reef or low breeding success last year, which means less juvenile birds came to Australia being these the majority of overwintering birds. Further monitoring is to be undertaken to be conclusive.

Long Reef Waders to the International Congress for Conservation Biology

The long-term monitoring program of shorebirds at Long Reef will be presented to the scientific and conservation community next December in Auckland at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology, also known as the International Congress for Conservation Biology. The paper submitted will be presented on behalf of the whole Long Reef Waders team as a poster. The title and abstract are as follows:

Long-Term Monitoring of Shorebirds in an Urban Setting: a community-based initiative

Monitoring of shorebirds in the East Asian Australian Flyway is critical to guide conservation actions given the multiple threats to their habitat in the region. As part of an Australia wide shorebird monitoring program, a community-based ongoing monitoring project was set up at Long Reef, a rock platform in Sydney’s north shore, Australia. The aims of this project are to: understand the community ecology of shorebirds in this headland, contribute to the national program, and influence conservation locally. Data have been collected monthly by teams of trained volunteers at the receding tide since December 2007 until present. A total of 16 shorebird species have been recorded, with ten of them being vagrant most likely due to intrinsic habitat unsuitability. The remaining six species have been regular visitors with five of them being long-distant migrants; four northern hemisphere breeders (Pacific Golden Plover, Grey-tailed Tattler, Ruddy Turnstone and Red-necked Stint) and one New Zealand breeder (Double-banded Plover). The only non long distant migrant was the Sooty Oystercatcher, which is listed as Vulnerable in New South Wales. To date, no declines have been detected in any species. Despite this site is not of international significance for shorebirds, its conservation value within the Sydney metropolitan area is paramount as it contributes to the diversity of shorebirds regionally. The site has been declared a nature reserve within the local council, excluding dogs from the roosting and feeding areas. This project demonstrates the potential of community involvement in conservation practice through citizen science.