Cover Letter, DA Form 1, Plans, Owners Consent, Coastal Environment Assessment · OPW21/0049

                                                                                                A     male      Red-Capped      Plover
                                                                                                (Charadrius ruficapillus) foraging on
                                                                                                sand flats in the Noosa River estuary.
                                                                                                Groups of over 20 individuals are
                                                                                                regularly sighted.

                                                                                                The Red-Capped Plover is both the only
                                                                                                shorebird species to have increased in
                                                                                                abundance and the only species to
                                                                                                have bred successfully in the Noosa
                                                                                                River.

                                                                                                Credit Bob Inglis.




Overall, to the extent analysis of the survey data permits, declines in numbers of migratory and some
resident shorebirds in the Noosa River survey correlate with population declines witnessed elsewhere in
Australia and along the EAAF 25. Moreover, research supports the thesis that factors at a local or regional
level were largely unable to account for variability in migratory shorebird populations between sites.
This is further discussed in Appendix 5.

     A Hooded Dotterel (Thinornis
     cucullatus)    observed       and
     photographed in the Noosa River
     in August, 2010.       A resident
     species,    it  is     considered
     vulnerable nationally.

     The Hooded Dotterel has been
     observed only three times in 14
     years, all in 2010, and likely the
     same individual.

     Credit: Bob Inglis.




C.             Migratory presence and breeding behavior

Extensive records were kept of the in- and out-bound cycles of all migratory shorebirds (and terns),
observed in the survey along with resident shorebirds known to transit regionally when conditions
permitted. Table 6 depicts the seasonal presence of all species in the Noosa River where sufficient data
exists to draw an inference.




25
     Continental-scale decreases in shorebird populations in Australia (Clemens et al, 2016).

Noosa River – Shorebird Survey Report 2019                                                                                 Page 15