Searching for Hooded Plovers at the Corner Inlet KBA

A volunteer and Parks Victoria ranger on the boat travelling between islands at Corner Inlet.

In early September I joined the Beach-nesting Birds team from BirdLife Australia to survey Corner Inlet, which is about 3 hours’ drive east of Melbourne, Victoria. Corner Inlet is one of Victoria’s Key Biodiversity Areas and is 72000 ha in area and covers the expanse of Corner Inlet Coastal Park and Nooramunga Marine and Coastal Park. These two coastal parks are managed by Parks Victoria and remain relatively ‘untouched’ by humans but have become home to many invasive weeds and feral animals.

The Corner Inlet KBA contains the most extensive intertidal mudflats in Victoria which support >1% of the world populations of Red-necked Stint, Far Eastern Curlew, Chestnut Teal, Pied and Sooty Oystercatchers and the vulnerable Hooded Plover.

The mission for the day was to search for nesting resident shorebirds, including the Hooded Plover, which is known to nest on the islands at Corner Inlet. Six of us were split into teams of two so that three islands could be surveyed on the one day. The teams surveyed Clonmel Island, Boxbank Island, and Dream Island. We were dropped off at the islands in the morning by a Parks Victoria ranger and then we surveyed for the resident shorebirds by walking along the stretch of beach, counting birds and looking for nests. We also installed some camera traps to target fox activity on the beaches. On Boxbank Island, we counted 9 Hooded Plovers and a few scrapes in the sand, indicating that some birds are preparing to nest. The next few months will be critical to ensure that birds can safely nest and raise their young birds.  

The Corner Inlet KBA does not yet have a guardian, so we are on the lookout for someone that knows the area and is willing to volunteer a few hours each year to complete the annual health-check. Please get in touch if you know of anyone suitable for that role.

Thanks to Kasun Ekanayake from the Beach-nesting Birds team for coordinating the survey and sharing your knowledge about Hooded Plovers. It was great to get out and explore this special place.

For more information and to get involved in this work, contact the Beach-nesting Birds team beachnestingbirds@birdlife.org.au and visit https://www.birdlife.org.au/projects/beach-nesting-birds

By Amanda Lilleyman, KBA Project Coordinator.