Little Terns.

[Daz]

Looks like the Little Tern colony close to where I live is going to have a disastrous season. All they have to protect them is a small fence, and a few signs, erected by good people who obviously care. I was talking to a couple of blokes who watch them a lot, some of it is down to lack of food, the usual fox, and egg collectors. What it needs is a 6 foot high electric fence all around the colony. It is not that big, maybe the size of a football field. Who would pay for such a thing? the council, or the R.S.P.B. Would such a fence help? anybody have any views?

[IanF]

Hm! I have been visiting a colony close to my area and this year there are around 100 breeding pairs which is nearly twice last years figure. Breeding pairs are still arriving and mating on the shoreline. I guess many birds have relocated from other areas.

The colony is protected by signs and a double fence including an electrified fence. In addition it is watched over 24/7 by members of the local bird club.

[Andrew Whitehouse]

I think with Little Terns, there's nothing particularly unusual in a colony having a complete nesting failure. Little Terns are quite long lived and each individual only needs to reproduce itself once over possibly several years. There'll usually be blank years but some years of great success, both for each individual and each colony. So long as some terns do well somewhere, the species will probably continue to do okay.

This all reminds me of a strange day I spent trying to protect the Little Tern colony at Great Yarmouth from a marauding Kestrel. To very little effect I might add.

[Michael Frankis]

Same with a Little Tern colony I know, it still manages to hold its numbers despite failing in most years, usually due to natural hazards. The commonest problem is nests being washed out on high tides, it seems to happen almost every year that a spring tide coincides with a strong northeasterly blow producing a big storm surge, pushing the tide 1-2m above normal.

Michael