The fledged Litte Tern chicks numbered 40 which is a good number, everything considered. Sandra can fill in on the number of nesting attempts and the total number of eggs etc.
The final
little tern figures for Baltray were:
21 pairs successfully nested
48 nesting attempts
95 eggs laid
24 eggs in 14 nests predated by grey crows
23 eggs in 10 nests washed away by tides
4 eggs in 3 nests either infertile or abandoned
3 chicks in 1 nest predated by otter
41 chicks fledged
A huge thanks is due to all the volunteers who gave their time over the few months:
Carla Byrne, Kieran Campbell, Paddy Carolan, Brendan Carroll, Kevin Cassidy, Billy Clarke, Maurice Conaghy, Mick Conaghy, Mark Dearey, Nessa Delaney, Ashley Dowd, Sean Fagan & Frances, Enda Flynn, Dominic Hartigan, Roy Hayes, Kevin Healy, Irene Hill, Chris Honan, Cathal Johnson, Len Johnson, Mark Johnson, Patricia Johnson, Andrew Kelly, Alan Kerr, Gary Kerrigan, Niamh Kiernan, Patrick Levins, Breffni Martin, Joe Martin, Eimear McAdam, Jennifer McCrea, Leo McDonald, Maeve McGlew, Paddy McGlew, Susan McKeever, Liam McNally, Ann Nawn, Martin O'Brien, Eric O'Neill, Gerry O'Neill, Peter Phillips, John Joe Reilly, Margaret Reilly, Tommy Reilly, Irene Reynolds, Peter Rooney, Rosemary Seaman & Brendan, Sean Smith, Gerry Somerville, Neil Traynor, Aine Walsh, and Derek Watters.
Thanks also to Steve Newton and Helen Bowland from Birdwatch Ireland, and to Kieran Buckley, Maurice Eakin and Padraig Comerford from the NPWS.
The support of the local people was extremely important for the duration of the project and we really appreciate the patience and cooperation that was shown.
Finally, thanks to the Hartigan family for giving us access to the beach through their land - Anne Hartigan who owns the land and her son Dominic who liased with us. We were facilitated in every way possible and they couldn't have been more helpful.
