Know Your Nature Parks - Winter 2024
Winter is an exciting time to keep your eyes peeled for humpback and Southern right whales and spectacular seabirds such as albatross whirling close to the waves just offshore. Huge ocean swells and some of the highest tides of the year make our beaches dynamic places.
In The Skies – Birdlife
Hooded plover
Hooded plovers, affectionately known as ‘hoodies’, breed from August to April with pairs claiming a territory of beach for nesting and raising chicks. Hoodies usually lay two to three eggs in a simple scrape. The pair will take turns incubating the eggs until they hatch at around 28 days. Chicks are precocious, meaning they leave the nest shortly after hatching. Parents will stand guard and alert chicks if danger approaches, however chicks must find food and shelter for themselves. It’s a precarious life for chicks on the beach as it takes five weeks to fledge. The reality is many nests fail due to weather, tides, predators and human disturbance.
Image 1: A clutch of hooded plover eggs.
To help hooded plovers, rangers alert beachgoers about nesting activity and volunteers monitor nests and collect data. When eggs are found, a simple nest refuge is made, complete with signage, rope fences and in some cases, chick shelters. Overall, the 2023–24 hooded plover breeding season on Phillip Island was quite good with 10 fledglings from 12 pairs.
Image 2: A day-old chick from Nest 11 at Woolamai Surf Life Saving Club.
Short-tailed shearwaters (Py-er-din / Biyadin)
Image 3: Short-tailed shearwaters.
This year’s short-tailed shearwater fledging season proved to be quite different, with only a small wind event early in the season. Luckily the birds were able to use sea breezes to help them on their way. The quieter conditions saw fewer deceased birds collected from the roads.
Monitoring of research nest boxes has suggested a less productive breeding season this year. Not only were there fewer eggs laid than in the last few years, but the hatching success of those eggs was also lower. This meant there were fewer chicks migrating through April.
Over winter we take advantage of the shearwaters’ absence, undertaking vegetation works, weed control and pest animal management in the colony areas.
Fairy terns
As summer disappears so does the breeding season of the elusive fairy tern. Efforts to protect the species continue throughout autumn and winter with the Conservation team restoring dune habitat ahead of the next breeding season.
Image 4: Fery tern, chick and egg.
Phillip Island Nature Parks staff continue to collaborate with the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation to complete on-ground works to further enhance a fairy tern ‘safe haven’. Works include spraying marram grass and encouraging spinifex, monitoring feral cats using remote 4G cameras and artificial intelligence software eVorta, cat trapping, and the removal of invasive plant species.
Image 5: Spraying marram grass.
On The Ground with Threatened Species
Threatened Species Report
To find out more about how Phillip Island Nature Parks partners with the community on our ‘Island Haven’, download the Threatened Species Report here.
The Eastern barred bandicoot, currently classified as Endangered, is continuing to spread across the Island and have now been spotted as far as Rhyll. Sightings from the public help us track their spread and can be reported on our EBB sightings portal here.
To help avoid the spread of disease and predation, please follow the Bass Coast Shire Council’s cat containment requirements which means keeping them confined within your property at all times, day or night.
Bush stone-curlews
Image 6: Juvenile bush stone-curlews as seen on the aviary camera trap.
The Koala Conservation Reserve is currently home to five bush stone-curlews housed in two education aviaries, offering visitors the opportunity to learn about this critically endangered species that once roamed Phillip Island. We encourage you to come and observe this beautiful bird, and find out more about the reintroduction program to return this species back to the wild.
Find out more here
This cryptic species will hide frozen among branches and leaf litter during the day, almost invisible with their camouflaged feathers, coming out at night to feed on insects, small lizards, seeds and occasionally small mammals. We look forward to hearing their resounding calls once again soon as we plan on reintroducing them back to the island this August.
Infrastructure projects
Pyramid Rock toilets
The toilet block at Pyramid Rock car park is currently being replaced with a new accessible facility. A fantastic design that sustainably fits into the landscape of the coastal environment.
Image 7: The upgraded Pyramid Rock toilets open for business in time for this year’s whale watching season.
Cowes-Rhyll trail
Upgrades to approximately 700m of the Cowes-Rhyll trail near Conservation Hill are well underway to make the boardwalk and trail a shared path.
More about this shared path here.
Future-Proofing Little Penguins project
Six months after the green firebreaks were established, growth has been monitored and vegetation results suggest the importance of tree guarding all vegetation against browsing species such as swamp wallabies, cape barren geese, rabbits and brush tail and ringtail possums. Results show that guarding native vegetation is supporting ecological diversity. More information about this incredible project here.
Image 8: Mandeville Road firebreak: A fenced exclusion plot 6+ months after planting season.
In The Trees
Koalas (Gurrborra)
The Koala Conservation Reserve undertook health checks in March liaising with Newhaven Veterinary Clinic. Last season's koala joeys were tagged and moved into the latest Blue Gum Koala Trail. The reserve is now operating with three viewing areas open to the public and koalas on display within the woodland walk.
The koala team continues to access 'koala browse' (food for koalas) from Westernport Water's King Road plantation in Bass. A great collaboration to help support feeding our growing koala population!
An extremely rare sighting of a powerful owl was recorded in the woodland boardwalk in April. The owl was discovered holding a ringtail possum in its talons.
Image 8: Powerful Owl. Photo by Joel Sharpe.
On Our Shores and In Our Waters
Little penguins (Guyup)
Figure 1: Average number of penguins counted per night 2022 - April 2024.
The average nightly beach crossings at the Penguin Parade in January and February 2024 were higher than in 2023, with 1,407 penguins crossing per night compared to 1,285. However, results indicate a significant drop in numbers towards the end of the penguin breeding and moulting season, with a 47% decrease in March crossings and a 57% decrease in April compared to the same months the previous year. This could be due to more birds spending time feeding at sea after finishing breeding and moulting. Throughout May, results show that there are some very healthy, well fed-looking penguins in the colony, which is great heading into the autumn breeding attempt.
Seals
Adam Yaney-Keller, a PhD student with Monash University and Phillip Island Nature Parks is studying the impact of entanglement on Australian fur seals at Seal Rocks using thermal sensors on drones to improve detections and looking at short and long-term impacts on affected seals.
At Seal Rocks, nine fur seals have trackers temporarily glued to their backs to compare the behaviour of seals entangled in marine plastic with healthy seals of the same sex and size. The trackers measure activity via an accelerometer, temperature and depth recorder, and record location via GPS. A previously tagged entangled seal was recaptured and its tag removed for redeployment on another seal. The re-captured seal was recovering well and had grown in length and mass since it was last encountered. The data from the tags is being analysed to see how active the two groups of seals are and where they go.
Image 9: Tracked Australian fur seal.
Image 10: Visualisation of tracked seal.
Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre
Winter can be a quieter time at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, with animals less transient in the colder weather. It can be a time when some penguins attempt chick rearing and larger seabirds like pelicans, albatross and petrels require specialist care.
Some good news stories to keep you warm!
A 22-year-old penguin, found malnourished after completing her annual moult, was identified by a silver band on her flipper, a method that had ceased in 2004. Given the name ‘Silver’ she spent five weeks in care where she gained an ideal weight, underwent swim testing, and was then returned to the wild.
Image 11: Silver banded penguin swim test.
Between January and March, we received five juvenile gannets from the Marine Response Unit. They were part of a large number of struggling birds across the state, all deemed too young to survive on their own. After an average of four to six weeks in care, they were rehabilitated to swim, feed and strengthen their wings in preparation for departure on strong winds. A real highlight for the team was to see them finally take to wing and head off to the wild.
Image 12: A juvenile Australasian gannet at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. Photo by Peter Fogarty.
Keeping wildlife wild – the greatest thing you can do for wildlife is to keep it wild. Please always keep your distance and remember how lucky we are to be able to share our beautiful island home.
Take care when driving on Phillip Island especially at dawn, dusk and at night when wildlife is most active. To report injured wildlife, call Wildlife Victoria on (03) 8400 7300.
For more information on living with wildlife please visit wildlife.vic.gov.au.
Share Your Nature Parks
Don't forget to share your Nature Parks images with us by using our hashtag #PhillipIslandNP