THE endangered Little Tern breeding colony at Sawtell has enjoyed a bumper season this summer with an estimated 50 or more chicks successfully fledging at the site.

The birds are now headed on their annual 6,000 kilometre migrartion to the northern hemisphere and National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Area Manager Glenn Storrie has praised the Sawtell community for the successful season.

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He said, “Migratory Little Terns returned to the regionally significant shorebird breeding site on the sand spit within Bongil Bongil National Park, south of Sawtell Headland, in December last year and slowly began to build in numbers.

“They were joined this year by three breeding pairs of endangered Pied Oystercatchers and a rare event of a pair of endangered Sooty Oystercatchers setting up a nest on the sandy beach.”

Two Pied Oystercatcher chicks and two Sooty Oystercatcher chicks fledged as a result.

Mr Storrie said, “Sooty Oystercatchers are known to favour rocky foreshores for nest sites, especially on offshore islands, so it was a rare and special event this summer to not only host a Sooty nest on the Bongil Spit, but to see both eggs hatch and lead to two healthy offspring.”

According to Mr Storrie, occasional pairs of endangered Beach Stone Curlews were also seen on the Spit but no breeding activity occurred.

NPWS staff fenced off the breeding site and erected signs requesting park visitors keep clear of the area when the number of nests approached 40 in mid-December.

This was because nests were widely spread and over 700 metres of temporary fencing was required to mark out and fence the vulnerable area.

Mr Storrie said, “We were expecting a very busy summer with visitors to the national park due to COVID impacts restricting wider travel, but the big wet over the Christmas/New Year kept some people at home, and this consequently benefited the nesting birds by limiting human disturbances.”

The east coast low and accompanying heavy rain and high Christmas tides that hit the Coffs Coast late in the year thankfully did not inundate the Bongil Spit Little Tern Nesting colony, but unfortunately the nearby Nambucca River mouth Little Tern breeding colony was completely washed out.

“The birds clearly benefited from the four months of feral animal control work targeting foxes that was implemented in the national park prior to the bird’s arrival,” Mr Storrie said.

“Coffs Coast Area NPWS staff are grateful for the continued and strong support of our local Sawtell community for our shorebird recovery program.

“This great result is in no small part due to the conservation support provided by our park neighbours and visitors,” he said.

By Andrew VIVIAN