Dotterel chick missing from Mount Main Beach after storm

A dotterel chick that hatched on the Mount Main Beach in December has gone missing after last week's storm.

Western Bay Wildlife Trust's Julia Graham said one of the dotterel chicks born near Moturiki (Leisure) Island on December 28 could not be found.

"The chick is missing, either by a predator or a rogue wave," Graham said.

"The parents are back on the beach but no chick. [It's] very sad."

Graham said last week's storm and king tide had a huge toll on the local bird life.

"We lost a couple of penguins and grey face petrels from exhaustion, hypothermia and starvation.

"Most were fledgelings that had just left the nest, or adults that were moulting. We had several that were injured by dogs as they lay exhausted on the beach."

Graham said the oystercatchers, which were also nesting on the beach next to the dotterels, were "fine and still cruising around the beach".

A king tide caused flooding across the region on January 5, with heavy rain and high winds battering the beaches, businesses and other areas of the Bay.