THE Muttonbird Island Nature Reserve Shearwater Rescue Program, a partnership between WIRES, National Parks and Wildlife Service and Dolphin Marine Conservation Park, is looking for enthusiastic volunteers to lend a hand with collection and release of stranded shearwaters.

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“Volunteers are needed from April to May,” WIRES Bird Coordinator for the area, volunteer Alice Baker, told News Of The Area.

A large colony of wedge-tailed shearwaters (Ardenna pacifica) breed annually at Muttonbird Island Nature Reserve.

Wedge-tailed shearwaters are a migratory species that spends the non-breeding winter months (June to August) in tropical waters of south-east Asia.

This species returns to breed at Muttonbird Island Nature Reserve in August each year, with egg laying beginning towards the end of November.

“During the months of April and May the chicks leave the island at night and head north.

“The lights of Coffs Harbour can confuse these birds and they head inland and strand.

“Often, they strand on land in the Jetty and Park Beach areas and cannot take off again, leaving them vulnerable to injury by cats, dogs and cars.

“The volunteers will do rounds in the mornings in the Jetty area.

“They collect any birds on the ground or left in boxes overnight by members of the public, at the Fishing Coop, behind the Gallery Cafe, at the old National Parks building office.

“The Volunteers will collect the birds and take them to 34 Hardacre Street for the WIRES volunteers to assess that evening.

“After they have been assessed for injuries, weight, condition etc, volunteers will return the well birds to Muttonbird Island, along with the birds collected and assessed at Dolphin Marine Conservation Park.

“Nighttime collection volunteers are also sought as birds can be found in the Jetty area, after dark.

“Online training will give the volunteers all the information they will need for how to correctly hold the birds and then release them.

“Volunteers are rostered onto a schedule with their preferred times to collect the birds and go up to the Island for release.

“Supervisors will be available to assist new volunteers.”

An on-line information package has been set up for all volunteers willing to assist with a minimum commitment of two shifts during the fledgling season.

Shifts are one or two hours in the day and/or evenings.

Please RSVP on the 2022 season by emailing npws.coffscoast@environment.nsw.gov.au after which you will be registered as a 2022 Shearwater Rescue Participant and provided with the 2022 package.

By Andrea FERRARI