One dog off the leash could be the end of a nesting shorebird | Anna Sublet

How hard is it for humans with dogs to share the environment respectfully, when the survival of a species might be at stake?"Are you aware of the birds? The birds nesting?" I ask the couple, as they walk along the shoreline towards me with their two dogs off-lead. The bloke growls at me, "Our dogs are under effective control," as one dog lollops off, zigzagging its way into the sand dunes. The small hooded plover nesting boxes are lined up at the beach, past the high water mark. There are ropes to signify "stay away" from this marked-out safety zone. In this space between land and ocean, small birds, camouflaged among the seaweed and beach grasses, build their tiny nests in depressions in the sand. Related: We're so lucky to share Australia with a stunning array of birds | Sean Dooley Continue reading...