Looking Up

RARE SEABIRD POPULATION TAKES A 'TERN' FOR THE BETTER

Weighing little more than a tennis ball and facing multiple pressures in the UK, Little Tern numbers have been declining since the 1980s. However, volunteers on Chesil Beach, Dorset working as part of the Chesil Little Tern Recovery Project, in partnership with the RSPB and Hedgehog Friendly Portland have helped 45 fledglings fly off for the winter!

There isn't enough undisturbed coastal habitat for the species in the UK any more and Little Tern colonies are very vulnerable. Coastal flooding and rising sea levels exacerbated by climate change, declining food availability and disturbance from people, dogs and predators has been of major concern - and this year at the beginning of their nesting season the colony experienced a high number of nest failures.

However, some highly effective trail camera monitoring which identified a range of threats and predators has led to a successful breeding season.

Having sealed off an area of the beach to protect the birds from dogs and walkers (who may have trampled their camouflaged eggs) and the erection of a hedgehog protection fence, a promising fledgling count ensued. Hedgehog numbers are declining themselves across the UK but as they are partial to a tern egg, local charity Hedgehog Friendly Portland designed an innovative hedgehog protection fence that sits outside of the current electric fence, in order to protect them both.

Conservationists are hopeful that as the fledglings mature into adulthood and join other breeding pairs, this change will lead to a growing breeding colony. The team is looking forward to expanding the breeding area in the near future and to setting up solar power to charge the electric fence next Spring.