The BBC4thSaturday event, held on the 24 August in the Stony Point Eco Venue, was a tribute to the late Sara Starke on the anniversary of her passing. Sara was a natural pioneer “oystercatcher monitor” in Betty’s Bay and a super example of how “one person CAN make a difference”.
Richard, Sara’s husband, treated us to a beautiful and fun slide presentation that documented some of the many aspects of Sara’s work including raising orphaned Oystercatcher chicks in a beach habitat she created, providing food for them and gradually introducing them to life in their normal habitat until at around 110 days they left to become independent.
He also highlighted some of the challenges that the parents and chicks face on the beaches from people, dogs and natural predators. Richard had special photo sequences and video clips of parents interacting with chicks as they raise them, feed them, try to protect them and teach them to swim – precious insights into the life of the Oystercatchers!
Sara has passed her “pioneer baton” on to a group of concerned residents who now monitor different sections of the beaches: Judy New, Colin and Myrna Cook, Wendy and Mark Lucas, Lenore and Duncan Watermeyer and Colin and Sue Brown. They keep a watch on the Oystercatchers and note the number of breeding pairs, eggs laid, chicks raised and the overall breeding success. Watch out for the signage they put up on the beaches and help protect our nesting shorebirds by keeping your distance and your family dogs away from the demarcated nesting sites.
Expert bird photographer Keith Hamilton shared his stunning slide presentation of some of the shore and marine birds in and around Betty’s Bay.
At the Shorebirds event, the BBC launched a new info leaflet on the Shorebirds that nest in Betty’s Bay. This leaflet was a joint initiative between the BBC and the Betty’s Bay Oystercatcher Monitors. Thank to Myrna and Colin Cook for their input and help with this leaflet, to Keith Hamilton for the use of his beautiful photographs and to our designer for the layout.
Learn about the main nesting shorebirds and the threats the Oystercatchers face during their breeding season which coincides with the summer months when the beaches are full of people and dogs. See the simple steps you can take to give the parents and chicks the space and reduced interruptions they need for successful breeding in the hot summer months.
Please pass this leaflet on to your friends, family, “clients” and “renters” if you sell houses, rent out your house, have a B&B or run an AirBnB. Help teach fellow beachgoers if you see them or their children or dogs too close to the nesting sites and disturbing the birds. Let’s work together to give these birds the support they need to raise their chicks successfully on our beaches. This can be one of your “Every day do one small act for biodiversity”.
The leaflet can be downloaded from the BBC website: https://bettysbayconservancy.co.za/bettys-bays-nesting…/. Kim at Fussfree Design and Print (FFDP) also has the PDF file so you can go to FFDP if you want to print copies of the leaflet.