Watch: Hawke’s Bay dotterel nests crushed as beachgoers ignore warning signs

A camera in Hawke’s Bay has captured people walking through a native bird nesting site and crushing their eggs.

Hawke’s Bay rivers and coastline are a stronghold for breeding banded dotterels/pohowera, supporting an estimated 16% of the total global population of the species.

A beachgoer in Hawke's Bay walks through a dotterel nest, squashing three eggs of the endangered species.

Marilyn Scott of bird protection group Save the Dotterels Hawke’s Bay said her group had cordoned off a 1km strip of beach near Ferry Rd and the mouth of Te Awa o Mokotūāraro (formerly known as the Clive River) with tape and signs, warning people of the critically endangered birds nesting in the beach area.

Scott’s group highlights dotterel nests in the area using numbered stakes with pink fluorescent tape.

They also build small driftwood fences around the nest’s border.

The group decided to place a trail camera on one nest near Clive this year.

On Thursday, that camera caught a fisherman and three others walking through nests, squishing what Scott said were “three eggs due to hatch in four days’ time”.

Marilyn Scott releasing a newly banded dotterel.

The video frustrated Scott.

“Those people actually walked over the cordon – it’s not hard to put your legs over it, you know, but it’s clear it’s there for a reason.”

Scott said the group didn’t want to name and shame, but wanted to educate people on helping support the region’s endangered wildlife.

One of those captured on the video is carrying a fishing rod.

“I don’t want to gang up on fishermen because we’ve had fishermen locate nests and put sticks around them and tell us where they are, but it’s a certain sector of our community that probably feel self-entitled about everything,” she said.

Last year,Scott found dotterel chicks and fledglings run over by motorbikes in the same area, despite the cordons and clear signage about vehicles not being permitted on the beach.

She also said she caught dogs off-lead in the area, despite it being clearly marked with signs as an on-leash zone.

Scott said Save the Dotterel members weren’t the police, but were there to engage people positively, talking to them about the dotterels.

A dotterel sits on its chick near Clive. Photo / Lynne Roberts Photography

Local surfcaster Brent Howie said people should be looking after all species of wildlife.

He said he felt a lot of people were still unaware of the dotterel nests and even more signs needed to be put in place.

“Honestly some people are just disrespectful and don’t care – it’s like the rubbish that is left on the beach also.

“We should be looking after our wildlife and our beaches.”

A Hawke’s Bay Regional Council spokesperson said dotterels faced numerous pressures from predation and flooding.

“It’s deeply disappointing to see nests destroyed when this could have been prevented.

“We are grateful to local groups, particularly Save the Dotterels, who raise awareness and actively protect nests and chicks.

“We have supported their efforts with signage, traps, and technical advice, but it is the volunteers on the ground doing the hard mahi.”

Principal ranger for the Department of Conservation (DoC), Kahori Nakagawa, said dotterels were protected under the Wildlife Act 1973 and anyone caught disturbing dotterels, or their nests, could face penalties including fines of up to $100,000 and/or up to two years’ imprisonment.

If people saw others interfering with nesting dotterels in protected nesting areas, they could report the incident to the council, or to DoC on 0800 362 468.

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in the UK, Germany, and New Zealand.