It is sad to say that the success of this film rests upon the fact that the ‘Banded Dotts’ (Double-banded Plovers outside of New Zealand), are doing badly when the try to breed on the beach at Kaikoura, and indeed many places in New Zealand.
This wonderful film, directed by Tegan Good, features one of Wader Quest’s local heroes Ailsa McGilvary-Howard, who has taken on the heart-breaking task of trying to save the ‘Banded Dotts’ on Kaikoura beach. Every breeding season she suffers great sadness to see the attrition that these birds face with people, vehicles, cats, dogs, other introduced predators all taking their toll on eggs and chicks.
Wader Quest believes that the best way to conserve and protect vulnerable populations of ground nesting birds, like these adorable ‘Dotts’, is for local people to take the lead and become invested in saving them. Ailsa’s selfless efforts to do just that are an example to us all.
But I’ll let the short film called Nest 38 tell the whole story story.