Another photographer gets lucky with Wellington Airport dotterels

Monday, 14 October 2024

Wellington photographer Simon Woolf spotted four dotterels at the southern end of Wellington Airport.

Wellington photographer Simon Woolf has documented a colony of banded dotterels living among the planes at Wellington Airport.

Woolf was drawn to the colony after seeing a remarkable photo of a tiny dotterel chick on the airport runway by Steve Wass.

On Friday, Woolf found himself being eye-balled by an adult dotterel at the southern end of the runway.

“The adult bird flew right across the runway and then landed right in front of me. How lucky was that?”

Woolf says the birds are remarkably unconcerned about the nearby planes.

Dotterels are very feisty parents and Woolf believes the adult was distracting him due to his proximity to a chick.

Masters of camouflage, he said it takes a really good eye to see the chicks no matter how close you are.

Woolf, who travels widely across the region to photograph birds, said he had been aware of the airport colony for sometime but had never been able to spot a bird.

Banded dotterel have adapted to living near planes.

“The adult birds are adept at taking threats away from their nests.Today one of the adult birds definitely took me away and distracted me, which I wasn't unhappy about at all. It gave me the opportunity to get as close as I've ever been to these resilient, clever birds,” Woolf posted.

Scanning the runway for movement, he spotted “a chick nearly totally camouflaged, again near the aircraft carriageway” and apparently unconcerned about the nearby plane.

He stayed for an hour and spotted four birds. The southern coast has some of the toughest weather in the region and Woolf said that the survival of the colony is testament to their resilience and ability to adapt.

Banded dotterel are masters of camouflage.

“This is a great example of how nature adapts to the human environment, and how we humans have helped to enable that to happen.”

The airport is playing an important role in the dotterels’ success, especially as seagulls do not like planes. Gulls will take chicks if they can spot the tiny balls of fluff on the ground.

An adult banded dotterel calls Wellington Airport home.

Woolf said the airport deserves kudos for looking out for the colony.

There are traps all around the airport precinct, and it works with environmental groups to protect the birds.

The picture by Steve Wass that inspired Woolf to go looking for dotterels at the airport.

Woolf said that although there are other small colonies in the region (notably Eastbourne and Waikanae) dotterel are under threat and the colony is a reminder of why need to protect the environment.

Wellington Airport’s wildlife officer Jack Howarth said last week that the banded dotterels at the far southern end of the runway had been there for many years.

Given their size, they do not cause any issues for planes

“They are also fairly safe themselves given they are at the far southern end of the runway.”

That part of the taxiway is only used when aircraft are departing to the north, in which case the birds have plenty of time and warning to get out of the way.

Arriving aircraft also touch down well clear of where the nests are.

“If anything, they are likely to be safer here as there are no predators like cats around.”

He keeps an eye on chick numbers and is working with a conservation group to band the colony so they can be tracked. The airport also takes care to make sure the birds are not disturbed by mowing.