A flock of hooded plovers scurried across a deserted beach like clockwork toys, their tiny bodies reflected in the glistening sand washed by an outgoing tide.
They had the crescent-shaped beach all to themselves, save for a couple of silver gulls. The way it should be. No people in sight, no dogs, no four-wheel-drives or horses. No plastic being washed ashore by the waves.
As beach-nesters, the hooded plovers are among the most threatened birds in Australia. They have vanished from vast swathes of the coastal south and south-east but they are safe in Tasmania, at least for the time being.
A trek to the isolated Riedle Beach on Maria Island explains perfectly why Tasmania remains a stronghold for this endemic Australian species. The beach forming the eastern side of an isthmus to the south of the island can only be reached by a 14km hike on sandy tracks from the ferry dock at the Darlington convict site.
I was lucky to reach it, without disturbing the birds, by landing on the western side of the isthmus. I was on a tour with On Board Adventure Cruises, aboard their vessel, the Odalisque II.
The beauty of Riedle Bay beach has been compared with that of Freycinet’s Wineglass Bay and in my view its location free of tourists gives it the edge.
The hooded plovers clearly enjoy the privacy, too.
The nationwide population of hooded plovers is around 3000 birds, of which half are resident in Tasmania. On the mainland disturbance on sandy beaches claimed by both humans and plovers has seen dramatic declines in their populations since European settlement. The eastern sub-species that ranges from South Australia to New South Wales has been listed as vulnerable federally and in New South Wales they have critically endangered status, with less than 70 birds.
On a positive note, the Victorian population has seen an increase after the formation of the Friends of the Hooded Plover group as part of a Birdlife Australia initiative started 16 years ago. Under this program, nesting sites on beaches are fenced off during the breeding season and there are public education sessions to explain why the plovers need protection.
The birds never leave the beach, feeding at the shoreline where marine worms, insects, sandhoppers, small shellfish and soldier crabs form their diet. They nest in the dry sand at the back of beaches, hiding their superbly camouflaged eggs among seaweed and other natural debris.
Both eggs and young are vulnerable to being crushed under foot by beach-users and young can die in harsh sunlight if separated from parents who offer shelter under a canopy of feathers when the sun is at its height. One initiative has been to place wooden mini-huts on beaches for the chicks – a human helping hand to put past wrongs to right.