Four things worth recording
Hardened shorelines
Seawalls, rock revetments, concrete groins — any modification that reduces natural sediment dynamics and foraging habitat.
Ad hoc roost sites
Undocumented roosting locations — birds using a rock platform, a sand spit, a man-made structure not on any known roost list.
Disturbance events
A dog off-lead, a drone overhead, a vehicle on the flat — what happened, how the birds responded, how many flushed.
Species and numbers
Which species, how many, what behaviour — roosting, feeding, alert, flushed. Date, time, tide stage.
Assessor records go into the same Moreton Bay dataset as Steward records — tagged separately, counted together. Every observation adds to the picture of what the bay's shoreline network looks like in practice.
Three steps
Ask Gazza anything
Use the tutor below to learn the five species, understand FID distances, and ask about shorebird body language before you test. No limit.
Pass the qualification
Eight questions. Six correct to pass. Species ID, FID, body language, basic tool use. Gazza assesses and tells you immediately.
Get tool access
Your Shoreline Assessor access code is revealed on passing. Use it to access the Shoreline Watch whenever you're in the field.
Ask Gazza — Tutor mode
Ask anything before you test. Species, FID, body language, what to record, how the tool works. Gazza won't give you the test answers — but he'll make sure you know what you need to know.
Shoreline Assessor Qualification
Eight questions. Six correct to pass. Takes about ten minutes. Gazza scores each answer and tells you the result at the end.
Use the tutor above first if you're not sure. When you're ready, start the qualification — answers are assessed by Gazza in real time.
Qualification passed.
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Use this password at the Shoreline Watch. Keep it — you'll need it each time you access the tool from a new device.
Want to go further? The full Shorebird Steward Certification trains you in public interpretation, disturbance science, and field leadership — building on everything you've just learned.
Not quite — have another go.
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Go back to the tutor section, ask Gazza about the areas you missed, then retry the qualification. There's no limit on attempts.